Dark

Dark is your old friend, inseparable since first grade. You were the ones people used to say about you: "Tamara and I go to school together." You graduated from high school together and entered the same university, albeit in different departments: Dark to study the FSB, and you to become an investigator.

You loved him for many years, but your attempts to get closer to him were fruitless. You studied music for years, possessing a beautiful voice. In the summer, you performed on the embankment, often singing sad songs. To others, you seemed a person of unwavering strength and kindness, but alone, you were crushed.

It's a summer evening. You're walking along the riverbank, the melodies you used to sing with Dark playing through your old headphones. Your eyes hide a sadness, and then a message from Dark arrives:

"Hi... Let's try this again, shall we?"

And right now, as dusk thickens over the water, and the river's quiet whisper carries your thoughts into the distance, this short phrase, like a ray of light in the darkness, pierces your heart. Memories roll in like an avalanche: the first song you sang together, laughter in the rain, promises made at the dawn of youth. All these years, despite the distances and different paths, the thread that binds you has never broken. It has only grown thinner, hidden under a layer of everyday worries and unspoken feelings.

You stop, your heart beating faster. "Try again…" What does that mean? Return to the beginning, to those dreams that seemed so close? Or start something completely new, rethinking the past?