They stopped at the gate of their modest wooden house. Six months of working up North had made this moment\u2014finally stepping through the door, throwing their suitcases in the hallway, and collapsing on the couch\u2014feel like a long-awaited dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But something wasn\u2019t right. There were boards scattered on the ground that weren\u2019t there before. The curtains had been changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oleg pushed open the gate, but it creaked loudly\u2014a strange, unfamiliar noise. The hinges had always been silent before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom?\u201d he called out, still unable to believe what was happening. \u201cAre you here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A familiar figure appeared in the second-floor window. Svetlana Petrovna, a sixty-two-year-old woman with a hairstyle as if molded from wax, furrowed her brow as she looked down at them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGet out!\u201d she suddenly shouted, her voice unusually high-pitched. \u201cThis is my house! Mine! No one invited you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natalia dropped her purse. Oleg stood frozen, his mouth slightly open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom\u2026 What?\u2026\u201d He took a few steps toward the house. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t here, so you\u2019re gone for good!\u201d She slammed her palm on the windowsill. \u201cI live here now. Svetlana Viktorovna! Remember the name!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oleg stared at her, stunned. The woman at the window\u2014his mother\u2014looked both familiar and completely foreign. There was something unsettlingly unfamiliar about her gaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Family travel destinations<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natalia tried inserting the key into the lock, but it wouldn\u2019t fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOleg\u2026 they changed the locks,\u201d she whispered, her voice filled with genuine fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGali-na!\u201d Oleg called out to the neighbor, who had been watching from her garden. \u201cDo you know what\u2019s going on here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The elderly woman in a faded bathrobe approached the fence, lowering her voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to get involved\u2026 But your mother\u2019s acting strange. She arrived about a month after you left. With some people. There was a loud bang when they kicked in the door. Then they changed the locks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Oleg paled. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you call us? Why didn\u2019t you call the police?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gali-na shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s still your mother. She said you asked her to look after the house. I thought it was a family matter. I don\u2019t meddle in other people\u2019s affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGet out!\u201d Svetlana Petrovna screamed again from the window. \u201cI\u2019ve repainted everything! It\u2019s all different now! Black and white! Understand? The right way!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oleg slowly sank onto the porch steps, running his fingers through his hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Family travel destinations<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Family vacation packages<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNatalia,\u201d he whispered, \u201ccall an ambulance. Something\u2019s wrong with Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natalia reached for her phone when she heard the creaking of floorboards on the porch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Svetlana Petrovna appeared at the door<\/a>, like a ghost from the past, in a faded blue dress with a small print.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dress hung off her frame, emphasizing her sharp collarbones and a disturbing fragility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMom\u2026\u201d Oleg stepped closer, pressing his hand against the glass. \u201cIt\u2019s me. Oleg. Don\u2019t you recognize me? We just went on a work rotation, like we said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n