Galina Petrovna stood in the middle of the room where she had lived for almost thirty years, staring blankly at the suitcase by the door. Viktor was methodically folding clothes — shirts, trousers, sweaters. All the things she had washed, ironed, and carefully placed on the shelves for years.
“Thirty years, Vitya. Thirty years down the drain,” she said quietly, not expecting an answer.
Viktor paused for a moment, then continued packing as if he hadn’t heard her.
“Galya, let’s skip the drama. I’ve made up my mind. Raisa is a woman my age; she understands that life can be different. With you, we always… just existed.”
Galina gave a bitter smile:
“I see. And thirty-eight years of marriage — that’s just a warm-up before the real life?”
Viktor finally turned to her, and something resembling regret flickered in his eyes:
“The apartment stays with you. New, nice. What more do you need at your age? You’ll live peacefully.”
“Peacefully?” Galina felt something inside break. “Do you really think I dreamed of just peace all my life?”
When Viktor’s door closed behind him, Galina slowly sank onto the sofa. Fifty-eight years old. No children, no grandchildren. Only the apartment they had bought a year ago after selling the old Khrushchyovka and the dacha. The apartment she was now alone in.
For the first weeks after the divorce, Galina lived on autopilot.
She only left the house to buy groceries, cooked simple meals for one day, saved electricity by turning off the lights when leaving a room. These habits had ingrained in her over decades of shared life.
“Galya, you should be glad you got the apartment!” said her younger sister Lyudmila during a rare phone call. “Vitya will have to buy a new place now.”
“Glad about what? That he found someone else, and I was left alone?” Galina answered bitterly.
“Oh, come on! You have your own life now. You can do whatever you want!”
Whatever you want. Those words echoed in the empty apartment. Galina couldn’t remember the last time she did something simply because she wanted to. There were always duties, work, home, husband.
One morning the phone rang.
At the door stood Viktor — haggard, but with a new sparkle in his eyes.
“I forgot some documents and my father’s watch,” he said, passing by her into the apartment. “I see nothing has changed.”
He looked around at the bare walls and the minimalist furniture they had bought when they moved.
“Why change anything?” shrugged Galina. “I’m fine as it is.”
“Of course,” Viktor nodded with a barely noticeable condescending smile. “You always settled for little. You know, sometimes I thought…”
“What did you think, Vitya?” Galina asked unexpectedly. For some reason, she suddenly needed to hear the answer.
“That you’re afraid to live, Galya. Always afraid. Saved for a rainy day, endured everything, postponed everything — for later, for the future. But when will that future come?” He closed his document bag. “I have to go. Raisa’s waiting.”
Those words haunted Galina after he left. Afraid to live? She? A woman who carried the family for thirty years while Viktor changed jobs looking for his “calling”? Who saved every kopeck to have something to live on in old age?
“I’m afraid to live,” she repeated aloud, standing in front of the mirror. A tired woman with dull eyes and pressed lips looked back at her. Once, she had dreams. Once, she wanted a bright life.
The phone ringing broke the silence.
It was Nina, a friend from school days. They hadn’t seen each other for years — Nina first went abroad to work, then returned, and they only kept in touch by phone.
“Listen, I’m coming to your city this weekend. Shall we meet?” Nina’s voice was cheerful and youthful.
“I don’t know…” Galina hesitated. “Something happened here…”
“I already know. Lyudmila told me. Even more reason to meet! I’m coming straight from the station to you. Send me your address.”
Nina burst into her apartment like a whirlwind — bright, noisy, in an orange coat with clearly dyed red hair.
“God, Galka, your apartment is sterile! Like an operating room!” She hugged her friend. “No, this won’t do. We’re going out now.”
“Where?” Galina was bewildered.
“To the beauty salon! Then shopping. And no arguing! I spent three hours on the train to shake you up.”
At the salon, Galina initially felt awkward. The young receptionist offered them tea, coffee, champagne.
“Champagne, definitely!” Nina exclaimed. “We’re celebrating a new life!”
“What new life?” Galina whispered. “I’m fifty-eight, what new life…”
“What, you planning to die? My mother’s seventy and she’s taken up dancing! And you’re just moping,” Nina winked. “Come on, get a new haircut. And color. And manicure. My treat.”
“No, I can’t…” Galina protested.
“Why not?” There was a challenge in Nina’s eyes. “Afraid?”
That word again. Afraid. Afraid all her life.
“All right,” Galina suddenly said decisively. “Do whatever you want with me.”
Two hours later, a different woman came out of the salon. With a new, light haircut, softly tinted chestnut hair, and neat manicure.
“You’re a beauty!” Nina admired. “Now shopping. You need new clothes and something for the house.”
“I have everything,” Galina began habitually but stopped when she caught her friend’s look. “Okay, maybe a few small things…”
They returned to the apartment loaded with bags. Two new blouses, a skirt, shoes — Galina couldn’t believe she allowed herself so many purchases at once.
“Now let’s hang these paintings,” Nina pulled two bright abstract canvases from a bag. “And put these vases. And cushions on the sofa. The home must be alive!”
After Nina left, Galina couldn’t sleep for a long time. She walked around the apartment, looking at everything. It felt unfamiliar.
“Did I really never start living?” she asked her reflection in the mirror. Her face was tired.
The next day, Galina decided to open the savings book she had hidden from Viktor for many years.
There was a decent sum — everything she saved from each paycheck “for a rainy day.”
“What if the rainy day has already come and gone?” Galina murmured.
She even laughed out loud. For the first time in months.
That same day, Galina went to a furniture store. She wandered for a long time among rows of sofas, chairs, tables, running her hand over different textures.
“Can I help you?” asked a young consultant.
“Yes,” Galina answered decisively. “I need a new sofa. Bright. And maybe a chair. And a floor lamp.”
When Galina gave her delivery address, the consultant smiled:
“Oh, that’s a new home. Many people are renovating there now. Did you just move in?”
“Yes,” Galina paused a moment. “You could say that. I recently started a new life.”
“That’s great!” The girl was sincerely happy. “You know, we have a very good designer. She works with people your…” She hesitated, “with people who have rich life experience. Maybe you want a consultation?”
Two months later, the apartment was unrecognizable. A bright turquoise sofa with multicolored pillows, a comfortable rocking chair.
“Galya, you’ve lost your mind!” exclaimed sister Lyudmila, visiting after the renovation for the first time. “Spend so much money! And what about…”
“What about what?” Galina calmly asked, pouring tea into the new porcelain set.
“Well… old age, medicines…”
“Lyuda, I’m fifty-eight. I’m not going to spend another thirty years preparing for the inevitable,” Galina handed her a cup. “Try the cookies, I signed up for baking courses.”
“Courses?” Lyudmila’s eyes widened. “What courses?”
“Baking. And I go to yoga, can you imagine? And dancing. For ‘elegant age’ people,” she laughed. “There are ladies there you wouldn’t believe. One is seventy-two and could outdance the young ones!”
Lyudmila shook her head skeptically.
“And where’s the money from? Didn’t you save…”
“No, not all,” Galina replied seriously. “I’m a reasonable person, Lyuda. I have a financial cushion. But you know, I realized one thing — you can’t spend your whole life saving for later. Because later might never come.”
After her sister left, Galina sat in her favorite rocking chair by the window. Over the past months, her life had changed beyond recognition. She made new acquaintances — mostly women her age. Many had also gone through divorce or lost husbands. They went together to exhibitions, theaters, and took turns hosting get-togethers.
“Galina Petrovna, you’re just glowing today!” said the neighbor from the floor when she met her by the elevator.
“Thank you, Tamara Sergeevna,” Galina smiled. “I’m just back from a painting workshop. Can you believe, at my age, I picked up the brush!”
“That’s right,” the neighbor nodded. “I keep meaning to start something new, but can’t…”
“Join us! We have a whole group. There’s even a lady who’s eighty-four and her painting is amazing!” Galina pulled out her phone. “Look, this is my latest work.”
Tamara Sergeevna examined the landscape on the smartphone screen with interest.
“You’re wonderful, Galinochka. I’m always afraid to start something new.”
“Afraid?” Galina looked at her neighbor with understanding. “You know, I was afraid my whole life. And now I realize it was pointless.”
The worst thing is to live your life and never try what you dreamed of.
In the evening, Galina sifted through photos in an album. Over the last six months, she had accumulated more pictures than in the previous five years. Here she was with new friends on an excursion to an old estate. Here — at a cooking masterclass, covered in flour with rolled-out dough. Next — at a dance party, in a beautiful dress she would never have dared wear before.
A knock at the door caught her by surprise. Viktor stood there — haggard, with the stamp of fatigue on his face.
“Vitya?” Galina was surprised. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing, just…” He hesitated. “May I come in?”
Galina stepped back, letting her ex-husband into the apartment. Viktor froze, looking around the transformed space.
“Wow,” he exhaled. “So you…”
“Did a renovation. And bought new furniture,” Galina answered calmly, walking into the living room. “Want some tea?”
Viktor sank onto the turquoise sofa, still looking around.
“Where did you get… I mean, I wanted to ask…”
“Money?” Galina smiled, taking cups from the cupboard. “Always had it, Vitya. I just used to save, economize. For the future, for old age, for a rainy day. But now I understand — life is one, and it’s now.”
Viktor looked confused.
“They told me you changed. I didn’t believe it, I thought…”
“That I’d sit and cry while you enjoyed life?” Galina set a cup of fragrant tea before him. “Try it, I made it myself. Learned to bake at courses.”
“Courses?” Viktor choked. “You go to courses?”
Galina sat opposite him, crossing one leg over the other.
“What surprises you so much? Did you think I couldn’t live a full life without you?”
There was no anger in her voice — only slight irony. Viktor shyly looked down.
“No, I… Well, things didn’t work out with Raisa. She turned out not to be the person I…”
“And you decided to come back?” Galina raised an eyebrow. “After everything you said when you left?”
“I thought… maybe we could try again?” He looked at her with hope in his eyes. “After all, so many years together…”
Galina stood and walked to the window. Beyond it stretched the evening city — bright, lively, full of opportunities.
“You know, Vitya,” she turned to him, “I’m grateful to you.”
“Really?” He brightened.
“Yes. If you hadn’t left, I wouldn’t have realized how wonderful life is. Now I’m free. And I do what I want.”
Galina sat down beside him:
“But I don’t want to go back. I like my new life. I like who I’ve become.”
“You really changed,” Viktor muttered. “A completely different person…”
“No, Vitya. I always was — inside. I just didn’t let myself show it. I was afraid of judgment, afraid to stand out, afraid to live fully.”
When Viktor left, Galina returned to her rocking chair by the window. No bitterness, no regrets. Only calm confidence.
In the morning, she brewed coffee, sliced pie, and went out onto the balcony. The spring sun caressed her face, a breeze played with her new haircut.
“Good morning, world,” Galina whispered. “Thank you for giving me a chance to start over.”
Her phone rang — it was Nadezhda, a new friend from the painting group.
“Galya, don’t forget! Today we’re going to the estate, a full-day excursion!”
“Of course, I didn’t forget! I’m getting ready now,” Galina replied with a smile.
She looked around the apartment — bright, lively, full of life. Just like her new life, which she had finally dared to truly live.