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The phone rang just as Ella was lifting her noise-cancelling headphones off her ears — shrill, piercing, like someone had flung open a window into silence. “Hi, Ellochka,” Vera’s voice sounded overly bright, the kind of cheerfulness that always came wrapped around something unpleasant. “So, Mom and I were talking… You know about Dad’s anniversary. … Read more

Outside the windows, garlands glowed with warm light, their reflections trembling in the glass where Christmas trees sparkled faintly. From inside came the muffled strains of holiday melodies. Beyond those walls, however, ruled a different world—a white, breathless silence. Snow tumbled down in heavy flakes, as though an unseen hand endlessly poured it from the … Read more

The phone rang so suddenly that I almost knocked over my cup of instant coffee. Seven in the morning! Who on earth would call at such an hour? An unfamiliar number flashed on the screen. “Hello,” my voice sounded hoarse after a sleepless night spent on translations. “Anna Sergeevna? This is Igor Vladimirovich Sokolov, a … Read more

Olga pressed “end call” and stared blankly at her phone. The same thing again. Third day in a row. “Hi, Mom! We’re at Grandma Galya’s! It’s so cool here! She made pies! When are you coming?” In the background, her mother-in-law’s voice always chimed in: “Alisochka, tell Mommy that we love you! That we’re taking … Read more

“I call him ‘Morel.’ I can’t stand old people! Useless people. Why are they even around?” Nika laughed. “Especially this one, he’s so disgusting! Whenever I walk Dior, I always run into his mug in the window. Sits there with his pipe, reading his newspaper. A mammoth! In this day and age! He probably hasn’t … Read more

Larisa Pavlovna stood in front of the mirror in the hallway, adjusting the collar of her snow-white blouse. Behind her sounded her husband’s familiar voice: “You’ve got those shows on again? Lara, how much longer? Twenty years of the same thing—kitchen, TV, kitchen, TV.” She didn’t turn around. On the screen, a French pastry chef … Read more

“I’ve transferred everything. Nothing belongs to us anymore.” Oleg tossed out the phrase as casually as he would throw his car keys onto the hall table. He didn’t even look at me, pulling off the expensive tie I’d given him as a gift for our last anniversary. I froze with a plate in my hand. … Read more

While parking near his favorite café at lunchtime, Anton couldn’t have imagined how it would all end. Suddenly, he saw two lovers standing across the street. They hugged, then sweetly chatted, gazing into each other’s eyes as if they hadn’t met in a hundred years. “Vera?” Anton muttered in shock and automatically dialed his wife’s … Read more

— “Mom, can we call Dad on video? Let’s congratulate him!” the older daughter suggested, looking at Yulia. — “Pwease, Mommy! Me and sissy will wead a poem… and Daddy will bwing us pwesents fwom his business twip!” the little one clapped her hands. The girls adored their father and were very upset that Daddy … Read more

Olga lined up three yogurt cups — raspberry, peach, and blueberry. In that exact order. Rules are rules. The yogurts stood tightly together. Proper. Neat. The sound of a key in the lock broke the silence. Viktor had come home from work earlier than usual. “Ol, you home?” her husband peeked into the kitchen and … Read more