“— Well… and when were you planning to tell me everything?” The son stared at the stunned Natasha with hatred in his eyes. “Gleb, baby, what is it? What happened?” “I know everything… Mo-ther.” He practically spat the last word into his mother’s face. “Well then tell me, I’d like to know too,” Natasha tried … Read more
Autumn clutched the city with cold, translucent claws. The air rang with brittle coolness, and underfoot the withered leaves rustled, crackling like old parchment. Elena was coming back from the hospital, and each step sent a dull, familiar throb of hopelessness into her temples. Not from a physical wound—from humiliation. From the shame she carried … Read more
A puddle of crimson liquid spread across the old, nicked cutting board. Veronika, sleeves of her cotton dress rolled up, separated sinews from springy muscle with almost surgical precision. The kitchen smelled of garlic, bay leaf, and homely comfort—the kind built up over years, brick by brick, like a fortress wall around her small, perfect … Read more
“Andreï, again?” Marina tossed the phone onto the couch. “Every single weekend, the same thing.” “There’s no extra space for you in our apartment,” the daughter-in-law told her mother-in-law. “What happened?” “Your mom called. Asked if we’re coming on Sunday. Like clockwork—Tuesday, five p.m., a call from the mother-in-law.” “So what? We haven’t been for … Read more
— “You didn’t wipe down the sink after dinner again, Alina,” said Raisa Petrovna quietly, but with a metallic note in her voice, standing in the kitchen doorway like a shadow from an old Soviet war film. Alina slowly turned. In one hand she held a mug with half-finished tea, in the other her phone, … Read more
— And this beet of yours, Veronichka, is… from a supermarket or something? No flavor of its own. Bland, — Tamara Pavlovna’s voice, thick and syrupy like cooled kissel, filled the small kitchen. She held a spoonful of borscht aloft like an expert taster delivering a verdict to the accused. Veronika felt her fingers ball … Read more
Alina stood by the kitchen window, watching the autumn leaves slowly settle onto the asphalt of the courtyard. Behind her came familiar sounds: children’s laughter, the shuffle of slippers across the parquet, the refrigerator door slamming. She didn’t turn—she knew she’d see the same scene she’d seen every day for the past three months. Inga … Read more
The legend that every child within the walls of a state orphanage waits, holding their breath, to hear the words “Someone’s come for you” shattered against Alisa’s stone calm. She sat on the edge of her institutional bed, her fingers digging into a snag on the worn blanket, and Irina Petrovna’s words sounded to her … Read more
Under the boundless sky, in a village steeped in orchard greenery and the whisper of ripening grain, a legend lived on—a legend of a love so bright and pure that even decades later, the old-timers, recalling it, would sigh softly and look away, hiding the moisture in their eyes. It was the story of Arseny … Read more
The torrential, merciless rain—as if the very firmament had split open above the Eternal City—was flooding Rome’s famous cobblestone streets, turning them into seething, rushing streams. Water lashed the windows of luxury boutiques in the fashionable Prati district, knocked down passersby hurrying to find shelter, and drummed on the roofs of the endless line of … Read more