Once, she left her native village for the metropolis, hoping to erase from her memory her first schoolgirl infatuation. But deciding to return, she suddenly realizes: feelings don’t have an expiration date—even if they never received an answer. She is no longer the same girl, and he is now an adult man with children. Will Siberian frost, the crisp snow crunching underfoot, and the long winter manage to bring them face to face again—and prove that a harsh kind of love can still surprise?
***
“Let go,” I exhale, but my voice betrays me—trembling and sounding more like a plea than an order.
“You never said,” he replies quietly, almost gently. “Why did you come back?”
Everything inside me flares up. You want an answer? Here it is.
“And if I tell you I missed you?” I say with an intentionally mocking smile. “What then? Will you be happy? Will you start imagining our future? Though what is there to imagine, if everything about you has already been planned out for you!”
Sevachev tenses and falls silent. Only his gaze grows heavier, darker—and I understand: I hit the mark right on target.