Nina pressed the ring of keys to her chest and smiled so wide her cheeks hurt. The two-room apartment in a new building finally belonged to her. No loans, no debts—just the result of her own work and persistence. “Congratulations on your purchase!” the agency manager handed over the papers. “Wishing you a smooth move-in.” … Read more
I stood at the living room window, looking out at the gray roofs of our neighborhood, and couldn’t believe it… Finally! After three years of divorce, after all the courts and the splitting of property, I had what I’d dreamed of all my life—my own territory. My apartment. My rules. Light walls I picked out … Read more
The doorbell rang at exactly half past six on Sunday morning. At first, Svetlana thought it was the fire alarm—the ringing was so sharp and insistent. But no, it was the door. — Sveta, open up! — came her mother-in-law’s voice through the door. — We’ve got important business! Svetlana threw on her robe and, … Read more
When Lena stepped off the train, it was still dark. She hadn’t told anyone she was coming back. She bought a ticket for early morning, took the last car, didn’t read, didn’t look out the window. She only listened to the clatter of the wheels—as if they were tapping out what she still hadn’t said. … Read more
The kitchen smelled of mint tea, with a hint of slightly burnt toast. Yekaterina sat by the window in her favorite stretched-out T-shirt that read “I need more coffee,” watching the yard where an elderly woman in leggings was pumping her arms energetically. It was noon on a Friday, yet instead of new orders, clients, … Read more
Anna’s very first memory was not of the warmth of a mother’s hands or the sweet scent of New Year tangerines. It was a pricking, ice-cold thing, stamped on the wrong side of her soul like a scar that would ache all her life. She was six. Into the neat, polished-to-sterility world of the orphanage—smelling … Read more
The news of their son’s death arrived late—like all the rare updates he occasionally sent his parents. By the time Fyodor Viktorovich and Klavdiya Naumovna arrived, the man had already been buried next to his wife Karina, with whom he’d died in a car accident. “Will you take the girl?” Karina’s aunt—an enormous woman who … Read more
— What is it with you and this Sofa? Why do you even need a wife like that? She gave birth, spread out, now she waddles around like a blimp. You think she’ll lose weight? Sure, keep waiting—it’s only going to get worse! — But she’s calm. And I actually like that she’s filled out. … Read more
“Mom, maybe that’s enough for today? You already smell of mothballs—and the past.” Irina wrinkled her nose with distaste, standing in the doorway of her father’s bedroom. Vera Koltsova didn’t even turn around. Methodically, as if performing a ritual, she was folding his shirts into a cardboard box. One after another. Collar to collar. “I … Read more
“Sign it, Kseniya Arkadyevna, and let’s be done with this farce.” Rodion carelessly slid a folder of documents toward me. His well-groomed fingers drummed on the mahogany desk, and on his lips played that very smirk I’d come to hate over the years. The smirk of a predator driving its prey into a corner. “What … Read more