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The darkness of the December night thickened outside the windows, while inside the old, dilapidated house, a tense anticipation prevailed. Behind the kitchen door, on the floor stained by long-unwashed linoleum, children crowded together — three little ones huddled close like nestlings. Their eyes, full of hope and hunger, were fixed on the crack in … Read more

  I stared at my phone for a long time. Alexey was calling for the third time that evening, but I didn’t pick up. The screen showed the time—half past ten. Before, at that hour, I would already have been washing the dishes after dinner, wiping down the table, hanging up laundry. Now I was … Read more

  — What’s that? — I stopped halfway to the station, listening carefully. Crying came from the left — quiet but persistent. The February wind tickled my neck and flapped the edge of my coat. I turned toward the railway, where against the white snow, a dark abandoned switchman’s hut stood out. A bundle lay … Read more

  “Speak.” His voice in the phone receiver was even and a little tired, like someone who’d been pulled away from a complicated spreadsheet full of numbers. On the other end of the line, Olga stayed silent for a second, gathering her strength. When she finally spoke, her voice wasn’t trembling—it was completely empty, burnt … Read more

 Get your rags out of here—this is junk! We need to clear the room for Lenka!” the mother-in-law demanded, and the husband nodded. But they weren’t expecting the answer they were about to get. Anna was working on lace cuffs. A thin needle obediently dove through the weave of threads, leaving behind a barely visible … Read more

 Maxim suddenly sat up on the bed—this horrifying dream had tormented him for an entire decade, and each time he woke up drenched in cold sweat. The voices from his night visions continued to echo in his ears: — You only evoke hatred in me! I curse the moment of our meeting! Stay away from … Read more

  Alla stood in the middle of the living room, clutching a damp rag in her hands. A wine stain was spreading across the floor—the trace of a glass that had been “accidentally” knocked over. Vyacheslav sat on the couch, buried in his tablet, pretending not to notice what was happening. “You’re sleeping in the … Read more

Yana heard the familiar notification sound on her phone and glanced at the screen. A transfer from her parents had arrived at exactly nine in the morning, as usual. Thirty thousand rubles—the familiar amount her mother and father sent every month. “Your parents sent money? Great, then we’ll buy my sister a phone,” her husband … Read more

  The gravel under my car’s wheels rustled irritably as I turned onto the familiar country lane. I was smiling. Igor thinks I’m meeting friends in the city, but I’m racing to him instead. A surprise. He’d said there was a crunch at the dacha—he had to finish some urgent project that required total concentration. … Read more

  “Mom, I’m hungry!” Olya tugged at Anna’s T-shirt hem while Anna sorted through empty grocery bags in the kitchen. Anna swallowed a sigh. In the fridge there was a carton of milk and three yogurts. For three children. “We’ll think of something, sunshine,” she said, automatically stroking her daughter’s hair. “We’ll make sandwiches, okay?” … Read more