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Anna felt—without the slightest exaggeration—like the luckiest woman on the planet. In just twelve months her reality had changed so much that the past seemed like a hazy, alien dream. Only a year ago her life had been subject to the will of a relative with whom she lived. That woman had turned her niece’s […]

“Pack your things and vacate his apartment,” declared my mother-in-law when I refused to take out a loan in my name… Nastya pulled the sleeves of her sweater down, trying to get warm. The apartment was chilly—the radiators were barely lukewarm. A dim autumn light seeped through the window, raindrops slowly sliding down the glass. […]

Artem stood by the window, clutching his phone, a smug smile on his face. His reflection in the glass smiled back at him—a successful, accomplished man who today would become a father… twice. His thoughts tangled, mixing into a strange and shameful cocktail of pride, fear, and anticipation. “They took my mistress and my wife […]

Eleonora froze with the small, delicate hand rake in her hands, and her fingers uncurled on their own in surprise. The wooden tool fell with a soft thud onto the dry, cracked earth. She didn’t even manage to gasp—the voice that sounded behind her was so sudden and piercing. It was like the creak of […]

— More junk again? You’d be better off spending it on food. The phrase was tossed at her back, harmlessly, almost lazily, like you’d toss a bone to a dog. Igor didn’t even think it necessary to turn his head. His attention was completely absorbed by the flicker of colored blotches on the huge TV […]

Sveta ran her palm over the glossy surface of the table. Every object in the apartment was in its place. The two-room apartment had become more than a home to her—it was a personal space built over years. Her memories carried her back to the university dormitory. Back then she shared a room with three […]

In the village of Omutovo, outsiders were not welcome. The moment a stranger appeared on the horizon, curious eyes would peek out from behind curtains, and a silent council of grandmothers would gather on the bench by the gate, keeping sharp watch on the newcomer’s every move. So it was this time too. Down the […]

That day—the very one, the last day of their life together—splintered into Karina’s memory like shards of glass. The air in the entryway was thick and stale, smelling of old resentments and the sour tang of dashed hopes. “Who’s going to want you, huh?” Artyom’s words hung in the air—heavy, poisonous, each one like a […]

Elena had just turned twenty-three—a milestone which, in their small provincial town, was considered the boundary between carefree youth and a settled, orderly life. Friends, neighbors, and the aunts at the market all felt obliged to inquire about suitors and, with sighs, hint that it was high time to think seriously about such things, or […]

A country lout—uncouth and crude—whose idea of good manners seemed to begin and end with not smacking too loudly. His life was laughably primitive: by day he hauled some kind of goods around in his battered car, and night after night he sat glued to his computer, from which came explosions and the clatter of […]