Marina first sensed that something was wrong the moment she noticed Igor hiding his phone. He did it subtly, almost reflexively—the screen would go dark instantly the second she walked into the room. Five years earlier, when they had just gotten married, he left his phone anywhere: on the kitchen table, on the couch, in … Read more
Tatyana closed out the register at the shop and handed the day’s takings to the administrator. It had been a good day—several expensive winter snowsuits had sold, along with a batch of dressy outfits for New Year’s school matinees. Ten years earlier she had opened her first children’s clothing store in a residential district, investing … Read more
Ekaterina woke up to a sharp ring at the door—insistent and demanding, the kind of ringing used either by officials or by uninvited guests. The wall clock showed half past ten in the morning. “Mom, who is it?” sleepy Masha peered out from the bedroom. “Stay in your room, sweetheart,” Ekaterina said, throwing on a … Read more
Lena stood by the window, watching as Galina Petrovna crossed the courtyard. Again. The third time this week. In her hands—a food container. “Your mom’s coming.” Igor was scrolling on his phone on the couch. “So what.” Two years earlier, when they’d finished building the house, her mother-in-law had told her in the kitchen, “You’re … Read more
You’re not a woman, Nastya! You don’t have a maternal instinct at all!” Danila roared, slamming his fist on the table so hard the cup jumped and spilled tea all over the tablecloth. Nastya stood by the window, pale as chalk. Outside, a fine rain was falling; uneven trails of droplets streaked the glass, and … Read more
Denis wants to come over for the weekend,” Maxim said quietly, leaning on the terrace railing. Vera froze with her cup halfway to her lips. The evening sun gilded the tops of the pines, and the wind stirred the young apple trees planted along the fence. Their home—their own home—built over two grueling years of … Read more
A resonant, authority-soaked voice—her mother-in-law, Alla Mikhailovna’s—cut through the stale air of the old two-room flat on the outskirts of Moscow. “Olga, come on—you’re not a stranger. You understand: we’re family. And in a family, how is it? Everything’s shared. The joys are shared, and that means… well… the opportunities too.” Olga, a literature teacher … Read more
I walked out of the maternity ward, awkwardly holding the hospital-issued things in a plastic bag. Finally—home, after three days in the hospital. I wanted only one thing: a hot shower and my own bed. Little Artyomka stayed in the hospital for one more day for observation—he had a mild case of jaundice. Nothing serious, … Read more
October leaves drifted slowly outside the window, carpeting the courtyard in yellow. Oksana was setting the table for dinner when a sharp doorbell rang. Roman got up from the couch and went to answer it, calling over his shoulder: “Probably Galina.” Her husband’s mother had been showing up more and more often lately—always looking worried, … Read more
Marina had always been proud of her apartment. A two-room place on the fourth floor of a Soviet-style panel building—not luxury, of course, but her own. She saved for the down payment for four years, working as a manager at a trading company, denying herself trips and new clothes. When she finally got the keys, … Read more