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Earrings hung like golden pretzels on her palm, she squeezed them and they crumbled into fragments, injured her palm and flowed out along with blood.

Footsteps were heard behind.

-Why do not you go?

-No strength.

She moved up in her chair.

– Don’t, I won’t sit down, I’ll stand next to you.

He handed her coffee.

– Still hot… and it’s sugar free.

She picked up a mug with a blue kitten, blew on the white steam, looked into the depths, there was nothing there, only a black echo, like an abyss.

– I didn’t want coffee.

– I could never guess what you want.

-It does not matter. I don’t care.

He looked up at the sky.

– Soon I will need to fly away… Will you stay here?

I still can’t do anything.

-Why? Let me stay with you! Can?

-I want to be alone.

She rises from her chair and leaves, he is left with a full mug of dark hot coffee and a small kitten in his back.

She flew away instead of him, and the price was his life, he gave it voluntarily and meekly, she did not even know about it.

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Irina Novikova is an artist, graphic artist, illustrator. She graduated from the State Academy of Slavic Cultures with a degree in art, and also has a bachelor’s degree in design. The first personal exhibition “My soul is like a wild hawk” (2002) was held in the museum of Maxim Bagdanovich. In her works, she raises themes of ecology, in 2005 she devoted a series of works to the Chernobyl disaster, draws on anti-war topics. The first big series she drew was The Red Book, dedicated to rare and endangered species of animals and birds. Writes fairy tales and poems, illustrates short stories. She draws various fantastic creatures: unicorns, animals with human faces, she especially likes the image of a man – a bird – Siren. In 2020, she took part in Poznań Art Week.