The Last Spring

The last year of Anastas Zasukhin’s life passes before us. His children, having moved to the city, left him in the care of neighbors and put a lock on the house. With his weakening mind, Anastas cannot understand why he is living with strangers instead of in his own home. “Feeling that death was creeping up on him without the terrible torments and torments he had so expected and feared, Anastas lay quietly, without moving, holding his breath, as if afraid to scare it away.”