Cat

In 1941, Kot and Tyapa were caught stealing and sent to a secret special school for juvenile saboteurs. During a dangerous mission in the mountains, the group came under attack, and Kot lost his right hand. The main character, Tyapa's older sister and Kot's girlfriend, remained behind the lines all these years, unaware of their fate and simply faithfully awaiting the return of her loved ones. In 1945, immediately after the end of the war, they finally met at a train station in an ordinary town. Seeing the young men disembarking from the train with other front-line soldiers, the girl at first ran toward them, but suddenly froze. She began to examine Kot closely and immediately noticed the empty sleeve of his greatcoat—his right hand was indeed missing. Tears of surprise and pity flowed from her eyes. For a moment, she even felt resentment at fate and at Kot himself for not protecting himself. But this momentary resentment quickly passed. The girl understood that she loved him and her brother despite everything, and no trauma would change that. She continued to stand on the platform, crying from a mixture of pain and relief, but knowing for sure that they were together again and this whole nightmare was over. Noticing her, the boys came closer. Tyap sniffled a little confusedly and said, "Well, great, sis. Don't cry, the main thing is we're back alive." Kot put his injured hand behind his back, frowned at her, but added calmly, "Oh, come on, stop crying. Your hand is gone, but at least you're alive. You came back, just like you promised."