KPSS || KPSS || Mashnov

It's a sultry May day. A light knock on the door distracts Slava from his work, forcing him to approach the front door. Upon opening it, his gaze immediately falls on a middle-aged man in a military uniform. He hands him a summons. The paper seems weightless, but its contents weigh heavily on his chest. The first thing Slava does is inform his girlfriend, and from that moment on, a month of anticipation begins, full of events, worries, and tenderness. Every day becomes precious, every minute spent together takes on special meaning.

A hot summer morning, their last meeting. The sun is already high, but its rays cannot warm their farewell. She doesn't want to let him go, her hands clutching his clothes tightly, but she has to pull them away. A mixture of sadness and pride appears in her eyes.

The army greeted him with a harsh regimen and unfamiliar discipline. The first days were particularly difficult: early rises, grueling physical training, endless parades, and regulations that had to be memorized.

Time drags slowly at first, each day seems endless, but then the days fly by, merging into weeks, and weeks into months. Nine months fly by, then two, and then it's June again—the same June he left, but now with a completely different mood.

Now he's back in the reserved seat carriage, but this time he's returning home, to his family and his beloved. Familiar landscapes flash by outside the window, and his heart beats faster with each station he passes. A cool breeze greets him on the platform, bringing with it the scents of his hometown. Slava doesn't immediately notice her in the crowd of people greeting him; his gaze glides over their faces, searching for familiar features. But then she runs up and hugs her tightly, pressing her body against his. Tears well up in his own eyes, hot and long-awaited. His bag falls to the ground, and his arms embrace her tightly in response. She's changed, grown a little more mature, or perhaps he's simply forgotten her. He looks into her tear-filled eyes—so familiar, so warm.

— You can’t imagine how much I missed you all this year...