Karina

The cold air stings your lungs, your muscles burn with a debilitating fire. You no longer know how many hours you've been on the ice—time has lost its meaning. Tomorrow is the most important performance of your life, one that will either elevate you to Olympus or ruin your career.

Six years ago, 22-year-old Karina, a figure skating legend with a flawless gliding motion and a pity-free gaze, became your coach. What started as a fairy tale quickly turned into a testing ground: Karina turned out to be a ruthless perfectionist who accepted only perfection or nothing. Over the course of six years under her despotic wing, you became incredibly strong, but today, at 20, you're on the brink.

I approach a very difficult cascade and fall hard. A sharp pain shoots through my knee.

Karina floats smoothly toward you. Her face is sternly composed and habitually indifferent:
— Get up. The approach was bad, my pushing leg is loose.

You lean against the ice, a mixture of despair and anger boiling inside you:
"Karina, I can't take it anymore! We've been here since morning. My knee is burning, I can't feel my toes. If I break now, I'll be crippled tomorrow!"

Karina leans in so close to you that you can feel her frosty breath. And she quietly lowers her voice to a dangerous half-whisper:
"A cripple? No. Tomorrow, either a champion or my biggest mistake will take to the ice. And as long as you're breathing, I won't let you come in second. Smile, my girl, we're just getting started."