“What?” I froze in place, not immediately realizing that these words were directed at me. “I found you a room in a communal apartment,” he continued in a flat tone, as if discussing bus schedules. “Lisa and I need a place for the baby. It’ll be cramped in the two-room apartment with you when there … Read more
I’m tired, Andrey. Every weekend it’s the same thing — guests, cooking, cleaning. I don’t even get a chance to just rest! Lying down on the bed is a rare thing for me.” “So what?” he shrugged. “That’s normal! You’re the hostess, you have to welcome guests so they want to come again and again.” … Read more
— Mom is coming to stay with us for a month, — said Grigory, drying his hands with a kitchen towel. — Olga met some guy, and they need to live together. Mom just gets in their way. Nadezhda froze, holding a half-washed plate. Soap suds slowly ran down her fingers into the sink. — … Read more
Andrey dreamed again that nightmare: his father was kicking his pregnant mother out of the house, shouting in her face: “Just die, Verka, but I won’t raise someone else’s child!” Little Andrey grabbed his father’s sleeve, crying, begging him to stop. His mother called him, stretched out her arms, but the blizzard drowned out her … Read more
The weather turned out warm and sunny, and Sima decided to take advantage of the opportunity — to air out her “pillows” and “blanket.” For pillows, she used paper bags stuffed with sawdust, and for a blanket, an old wall carpet with a deer pattern. She carefully stretched it on a rope between the trees, … Read more
He was her brother only by their father; their mothers were different. When her mother was sick and spent weeks in the hospital, her father had already started seeing this Darya. Darya worked at the local hairdresser’s, but her mother never went there, saying it was too expensive. Ulyana didn’t know why her father went … Read more
The inheritance fell on Galya literally like a snowstorm: she was coming out of the entrance when she heard her daughter shouting from the balcony: “Mom! A letter came for you, I forgot! Wait, I’ll put it in a bag and throw it down now.” To keep the bag from blowing away in the wind, … Read more
She never remembered her dreams. He could recount every one of his dreams in the tiniest detail. She liked to sleep in longer, while he got up at five in the morning even in winter. But both of them loved potato pies and detective series. “That’s the killer,” the husband would confidently proclaim, pointing with … Read more
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 … Read more
Wrinkled fingers of Lidia clenched the cup of cooled tea. Thirty-two years of marriage, three thousand dinners together, endless washing of his shirts — and now she sat alone in their kitchen, where every inch was soaked with shared memories. “I don’t understand, Vitya,” her voice trembled like a string. “You’re just… leaving?” Victor methodically … Read more