An elderly woman, stooped and exhausted, was slowly trudging along a deserted street on this quiet evening. The wind played with her light brown strands of hair, in which early, sneaky gray had crept in, as if time had decided to mock her and quicken its pace. Her hair escaped from under an old beret, … Read more
Svetlana, my husband Andrey’s own sister, has always been a mystery to me. Not literally — I knew her face well, her voice, even the way she laughed. But understanding what was going on in her head? I never managed that in all these years. It all started with small things that seemed almost unnoticeable … Read more
— Dasha, will you take a ticket to the city? — the bus driver asked, squinting against the bright spring sun. He handed her a crumpled receipt and adjusted his worn cap. — To the last stop, — Darya replied briefly, clutching the handle of her old bag tightly. She decisively headed to the doors, … Read more
— And you paid almost five hundred thousand for this, Nastya? — her mother exclaimed in surprise when she came to visit her daughter to see the renovation that she and her husband had just finished. — Yes, mom! And the five hundred is just for the kitchen set! Everything else cost a pretty penny … Read more
Verochka, open up, it’s family!” — the girl immediately recognized the voices of her relatives. “Aunt Zina, what are you doing here?” “We came to work. You know how things are getting worse and worse in our backwater. So Petya and I decided to go to Moscow to earn money and help my daughter.” “And … Read more
Arkady Petrovich absentmindedly drew crosses in his notebook, trying to turn them into some kind of pattern. Inside, there was emptiness and longing. From the laptop screen, his loyal dog—a Ca de Bou named Azart—was looking at him. Azart was a gift from his best friend Andrey, who had left many years ago to serve … Read more
Elizaveta Andreevna was walking down a deserted street toward the train station, clutching her bag tightly to her chest. It was early morning — the city was just waking up, but to her, everything around seemed frozen, as if submerged in aquarium water. Rare passersby, rare cars, even the pigeons on the sidewalk — all … Read more
— So, you won’t help your husband’s own mother? — No, I won’t. Not only did you decide to celebrate your birthday in our apartment without my consent, but you also didn’t warn me in advance. I’m not going to change my plans just because you want to, — Lena said, crossing her arms over … Read more
— Well… you understand… I wanted to ask if you have received your salary? Of course, I did. As always — on the fifteenth. As always — I sent money to Mom for utilities and medicine, paid off part of the car loan, topped up the fund for the trip to Italy I’ve been dreaming … Read more
“Nina Arkadyevna,” Marina said calmly, “you forgot to pay.” “Oh, come on,” she smiled. “We’re family! You don’t think I’d take money from my relatives, do you?” Marina always had a strong-willed character. Even when she and Vadim started dating, she was the one who initiated the wedding. She knew what she wanted in life—and … Read more