The bus hissed to a stop on the edge of the village. Olesya stepped off into the drizzle, one hand resting on her pregnant belly, the other clutching her coat tight. She was the only passenger to get off. The driver gave her a look—part sympathy, part hesitation—then pulled away.
The village was still. Bare trees loomed over rain-slicked roads, the only sound the steady tap of raindrops on her umbrella. Olesya walked in silence, memories of Andrey flooding back: his laugh, his calloused hands, the way he said her name like it was something sacred.
Before him, life had been survival—an orphanage, trade school, endless nights at the metalworks. Then Andrey showed up: an engineer who wasn’t afraid of real work. He saw her. Not just noticed—saw her. They grew close over shared lunches and bleary-eyed conversations. When she told him she was pregnant, he was thrilled. He proposed under the flickering light of her dorm room. “I want you to meet my family,” he said. But Olesya hesitated, afraid of not measuring up.
Three months ago, Andrey left to visit them without her. “Just a few days,” he promised. He never came back. The whispers started—he bailed, couldn’t handle the responsibility. But Olesya didn’t buy it. Then she overheard the truth: he’d been mugged near a train station. He didn’t survive.
Now, she followed the worn path through the cemetery, a bundle of chrysanthemums in her hand. When she reached his grave, she collapsed, letting her grief pour out with the rain.
As the cold began to settle into her bones, she realized her phone was gone. Searching for cover, she spotted a small mausoleum nearby. She slipped inside, whispering, “Just need a minute.”
Then—buzzing. A phone, not hers, rattled against the stone floor.
She picked it up.
“Hello?” she said.
A man’s voice replied, “Oh! That’s my phone—I lost it yesterday.”
“I’m… in the cemetery,” she said, her voice unsteady.
“I was doing some work out there. Must’ve dropped it.”
“I wasn’t feeling well…”
Her vision swam. The phone fell from her fingers.
Then—darkness.
