Every morning the mother-in-law cooked soup, placed a bowl in front of her and said curtly:

— Work first – only then you eat.

The pregnant woman went out to the field and spent long hours in the soil. At night she dreamed of the sea – not because she had ever been there, but because her husband had gone. He sent her photos from the beach. Short captions: “I’m resting, just like you said.”

That day the wife was digging potatoes. She called him – but he didn’t answer.