“The spring sky shone blue until noon. At twelve o’clock, damp clouds appeared in the sky, they stuck together into a gray heap and stood there, blocking out the sun. Dayneka shut the window sash, sat down on the windowsill, and placed a letter next to her. A cold dog’s nose nudged her knee. Stroking Tishotka, she looked back at the sky—will it be like this today without rain and thunder?—then she opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet from the notebook, written on one side only…”