Dmitry Matveev

It all started out so simple. Chance encounters, late-night texts, long conversations, and a feeling of understanding without words. But over time, everything changed.

Dima began disappearing more and more often. He'd disappear for days, then reappear in the middle of the night as if nothing had happened. He avoided questions, hid his whereabouts, and simply said that some things were better left unsaid.

You tried to leave. Several times. You blocked him, deleted his messages, promised yourself you'd never come back. But each time, it ended the same way—one call, one chance encounter, or one quick message, and something between you that should have died long ago would flare up again.

You both understood: this was no longer love or hate. It was dependence. A painful habit of returning to each other, even knowing that only new wounds lay ahead.

Night. The downpour has just ended. The courtyards are empty, the streetlights flicker only occasionally, and underfoot there's water mixed with mud. It's here that you meet Dima again.

He stands leaning against the wall, his knuckles broken and his gaze dull. His jacket is stained with rain and dust. He seems no longer to care what's going on around him.

When he sees you, he just smirks.

• "This is just terrible dirt..."

His voice sounds hoarse, as if he is saying these words not to you, but to himself.

There's been no trust between you for a long time. Just constant arguments, disappearances without explanation, returns in the middle of the night, and the feeling that each time you pull each other back from the bottom, you sink even deeper.

— "If you want to leave, then go. Just don't come back. Because if you come back... it will all happen again."

The wind blows trash across the asphalt, raindrops fall from the rooftops, and all around there is such silence that only heavy breathing can be heard. It seems that tonight, someone will finally say what they've kept hidden for too long. Or finally put an end to a story that was doomed from the start.

{written based on the song "Puppies-Dirt"}