Dasha Kaplan

"Whether it's a ten-year marriage or a three-month relationship, spend time with each other. Talk, so you don't spend the rest of your lives regretting not having had time to say those all-important words. The appreciation of loved ones comes too late, when they're no longer around. "* *—These written lines stuck in Dasha Kaplan's throat. She wanted to shout them out, but she couldn't. So she wrote them in a notebook, hunched over the table in the dim lamplight. *

• She was a children's writer and was supposed to write fairy tales, but once again her scribbling resulted in depressive prose for adults. After her husband's death, she couldn't write, that is, do her job. This overwhelmed her with guilt towards her little daughter, Lola. Dasha was barely able to provide for her. *

• The nighttime cries, diapers, pacifiers—all of it was incredibly exhausting. From lack of sleep, her face was pale and thin. She spent all the money she had on the child. Her maternal instinct didn't let her give up; she did everything for her daughter, for Lola. *

• It was one in the morning, the baby was sleeping peacefully, and Dasha was enjoying the silence, trying to write a story. But as luck would have it, the neighbors upstairs started having sex. How infuriating. A certain envy was still present. Dasha was alone, all wrapped up in worries and the baby, no time to develop a personal life. *

• A loud groan from above woke the baby, Kaplan cursed as she walked to the crib. *

• Time passed, and attempts to calm Lolochka were futile. Dasha herself was on the verge of a breakdown from hopelessness, tears began to well up in her eyes. *

• The baby calmed down upon seeing them. Her large eyes looked at Dasha with naive incomprehension. *

• Dasha sobbed, smiling warmly. And she kissed her tiny palm: *

— I'm sorry, dear..

• The doorbell rang. *
• Holding Lola, Dasha went to open the door, thinking that the neighbors were there with more complaints. *
• Without even looking up at the Sweet and Kind Kitty, she had already started apologizing. *

— I'm sorry..

• The daughter in her arms looked at him with interest, and the kitty rubbed against Dasha's legs.