My name is Tamara Alexeyevna. I am seventy-four years old. I used to have a full life: a loving husband, a beloved job, a warm home, and three children. But ten years ago, my husband passed away—his heart couldn’t take it. After he left, the house became empty, and I became unwanted. The children started … Read more
Darya sank down onto the couch with difficulty, carefully supporting her rounded belly. Seven months of pregnancy were becoming increasingly hard to bear. She closed her eyes, trying to dissolve into the blissful silence of the apartment. The day had been exhausting. Since six in the morning, she had been standing in lines at the … Read more
Vera was slowly returning to reality, as if rising from a bottomless abyss. She understood that somehow she was coming back from somewhere, but she couldn’t comprehend where exactly. Muffled voices were heard around her. Voices and suffering. Suffering, growing with every second, filling her entire being. A clear guess flashed through her mind: she … Read more
Marina had never imagined that she would end up in such a situation. “Beluga” – the restaurant where Victor once proposed to her three decades ago – had now become the place for his secret rendezvous. She stood by the panoramic window, watching as her husband tenderly intertwined his fingers with a young blonde barely … Read more
Alice, come here, Petrov needs you.» Alice sighed deeply. She had only worked at the hospital for three months, but she had already experienced the true character of the department head. It seemed he had taken a disliking to her from the very first moment they met. Alice always strove to perform her duties conscientiously. … Read more
We’re stuck at the crossing again,» sighed Klavdiya Petrovna, adjusting her woolen scarf. «What do you think, Anya, maybe we’ll get lucky and find a gold bar on the tracks?» «As if,» I smirked. «You’d be lucky to find a frozen crow here.» The November wind cut to the bone. I was returning from the … Read more
– Oh, Anna Alekseevna… A concert at the community center, exactly! You asked to be reminded, – Lenochka sang, glancing at the clock. – You’re right on time! The secretary knew perfectly well that if Anna Alekseevna had gone to the cemetery, she would completely forget everything else. She called in advance, gave warnings, kept … Read more
Warm May evening gently enveloped the city as if wrapping it in a delicate blanket. Ksenia settled on the balcony of their new country house, watching Artem fussing with the grill in the yard. Four-year-old Lera, trying her best to help her dad, handed him all sorts of little things, while six-year-old Maxim tirelessly chased … Read more
Masha, listen to me. Just wait, don’t cry. The place I’m going to pays really well. It just turned out this way, but we can’t give up. I’ll earn money, and we’ll start over.» Ivan tried to reassure her. Masha shook her head in despair. «No, Ivan, no. No money is worth a life.» «What … Read more
Yulia Antonovna had long served in the Grigoryev household — Vladimir and Lyudmila. Today the owners had gone somewhere, and the maid, having finished all her chores around the house, sat down to rest by the window. Suddenly, her attention was drawn to a little boy on the street. Skinny and clad in tattered clothes, … Read more