Natasha stroked the wooden wall with her palm, feeling the roughness of the old log. This house had witnessed her first steps, her first tears, her first joys. A sturdy, albeit old, village house with a carved porch and a small, well-kept garden had been her sanctuary since childhood. After the death of her grandmother, … Read more
Call your village mom! Let her come and clean up after me since you’re not capable of handling it yourself.» These words, thrown sharply with a venomous sneer, sliced through the silence of the living room like a whip. Everyone in the room froze in shock. Even Sasha, holding a spoon over a cup of … Read more
The friends couldn’t understand what Varya saw in Pasha. Always frowning, never smiling, he didn’t like to have fun. «You’re so young, so lively, and you got together with this… old man,» her friends once said with a touch of disgust. «Old man?!» Varya laughed. «Pasha is only three years older than me.» «But … Read more
The silence descended, but something sinister lurked beneath it. «How much longer is this going to go on?» Liza threw a towel on the table. «I came home an hour ago and haven’t even had time to change!» «What are you starting again?» Andrey stood in the doorway, blocking the way. «Mom just popped by … Read more
Let’s stop by the church,» suggested Polina. Vadim looked at his wife and smiled. They had been married for nine years, and throughout this time, they had been trying to have a child. They visited doctors and underwent examinations everywhere they could. They did everything they could, took every possible test, but nothing helped. Polina … Read more
The call from the notary’s office caught Varvara off guard. The spoon with her morning porridge froze halfway to her mouth as soon as she heard the first words about her grandmother’s inheritance. Alexey, Varvara’s husband, turned away from the stove with a questioning look. «Yes, yes, I understand. In six months, I’ll have to … Read more
I didn’t really want to get married a second time. The first experience—five years of emotional rollercoaster—ended in the usual way: mutual boiling irritation. We broke up but remained friends. We even texted occasionally—about work, the weather, and former mutual acquaintances. With Anton, everything was different from the start. No butterflies, no fireworks, no sweet … Read more
Every day, Anya walked home hoping that Max would come back. She knew he didn’t have the keys—he had left them when he left. Yet she still hoped that he would open the door and she would see his sneakers in the hallway. But the miracle didn’t happen this time either. They had lived together … Read more
Ira, repeat what you just said? But keep in mind, I hope to hear at the end: ‘It was all a joke!’” Yaroslav struggled to stand up but immediately had to sit back down in the armchair because his legs felt like cotton and refused to hold his heavy body. “I’m not going to repeat … Read more
I sat, my head pressed into my shoulders, listening to torrents of abuse hurled at me from both sides. Valentina Alexandrovna, the mother of my future fiancé, spared no harsh words as she accused me of all the sins imaginable. What hurt the most was that Slava, my dear fiancé, didn’t even try to stop … Read more