Lana V Lynx
Bio
Avid reader and occasional writer of satire and short fiction. For my own sanity and security, I write under a pen name. My books: Moscow Calling - 2017 and President & Psychiatrist
@lanalynx.bsky.social
Stories (534)
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Boomerang of Happiness - 15
It took the Border Patrol about two weeks to have the phone in their apartment fixed. All that time, Anna complained about not being able to do anything. She fell into a habit of going to the city’s main post office that had a long-distance phone connection and calling her mother from there. She spent hours talking, with her mother patiently listening and then relaying the gist of the conversation to Boris. Anna’s father tried to stay away from their chatter but they inevitably pulled him in, with Anna complaining and crying and her mother begging him to do something to get them “out of that horrible place.” All these conversations always ended the same way, with Boris saying again and again that he had no power over Alex’s assignments and Anna crying and ending up with a 2-3 ruble bill for one phone conversation. It was an enormous amount of money by those times standards, when Alex’ salary was about 100 rubles. Anna tried to keep the conversations secret from Alex so when she ran out of her own money, she asked her mother to send her some money so that they still could talk, which her mother promptly did. When Alex asked Anna what she was doing during the day, she’d always tell him she went out for a walk and tried to see if she could find a job.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 14
Next day, Alex left for work early in the morning without waking Anna. She slept in as late as she could and when she finally got out of bed because she was hungry, she didn’t know what to do. She had no intention of unpacking and putting in places the new things they bought the day before or make their apartment into a livable homey space. Not only because she told Alex the truth about not knowing how to do it but also because she was hoping she would get herself out of this miserable situation one way or another and did not want to invest herself into decorating the apartment. Around noon, she made herself some scrambled eggs, ate, and went out for a walk. She got even more depressed by the small size and simplicity of the town, and went back to the apartment. On the way back, she bought a city newspaper in the kiosk and a couple of magazines to read and spent the rest of the day splitting time between reading and watching TV.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 13
Anna convinced herself she would be miserable in Khorog even before they arrived there. The day after their dreadful conversation Alex went to work and Anna went out and bought a map of Tajikistan. When she saw how close Khorog was to the Afghanistan border and the never-melting glaciers she felt her stomach sink. As soon as Alex came back, she asked him to show on the map where his actual post would be. With a knowing precision, he drew a dot next to a large glacier north-east of a small village called Khidorjev.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 12
When they arrived in Dushanbe, for the first three weeks Alex and Anna were put up in a temporary apartment owned by the Ministry of Defense. Anna immediately pointed out how “provincial” and small the city was. The apartment was conveniently located downtown, so on the first evenings Alex and Anna took walks around downtown, but Anna didn’t really like that and on the third day Alex went for a walk by himself. The apartment was minimally furnished and had a small poorly equipped kitchen. Using that as a pretext, Anna managed to get herself out of cooking, and they lived on what Alex knew how to make, mostly scrambled eggs, sandwiches, and pasta.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 11
While the guests of the wedding party continued to eat and drink, the newlywed couples returned to Alma-Ata for their first night together as a husband and wife. Leo and Anna stayed at the neighbors’ apartment, and Alex and Anna spent the night at his parents’.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 10
Similar to the western tradition, in Soviet weddings the groom was not supposed to see the bride in her dress before the wedding ceremony. This is why while Annas were being made up and dressed up, Alex and Leo were putting on their tuxes in their neighbors’ apartment across the hall. The neighbors, an elderly childless couple, both university professors, knew the “boys” all their lives and were happy to help out in any way. As honorary guests of the double wedding, they were involved in the preparation just as other relatives were.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 9
Originally, when Leo and Anna planned to get married, they wanted to have a wedding at a restaurant. They did not plan to invite many guests, but even with the closest relatives and friends they counted fifty people who confirmed they would attend. Their parents’ three-room apartment would not be able to accommodate so many guests, and Maria and Pavel found a large restaurant not far from their home where they planned to have the wedding for their fourth child. But now that it turned into a double wedding with more guests and Anna’s parents coming as well, the restaurant was becoming an expensive endeavor and a little too tight for everyone who wanted to come.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 8
Once Alex thought through the details of his plan, he went to his boss and asked for an earlier transfer to Tajikistan, starting August 1, 1990. His boss was genuinely surprised and asked why. In his mind, Tajikistan was the end of the world and no brilliant engineer in his right mind would ask to go there voluntarily before his time. Alex explained that he was almost done with his project here, at the station, and since he was getting married, he would like to start a new life with his new wife at a new place, and closer to his parents. When his boss agreed with Alex’s reasoning and said he would support his request higher up in the chain of command, Alex also wrote an official request for a two-week vacation in mid-July, to spend some time with his parents and prepare for the wedding.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 7
Next day at work, Anna was waiting for him at the cafeteria for lunch, as usual. When he came up to her, smiling, she pecked him on the cheek and loudly announced to the entire line, “Alex and I are getting married!” Most of the people in the cafeteria did not know how to react, such a shock it was for everyone. They gave each other puzzled looks, as if saying, “Why? How did this happen?” But then a lonely clapper broke the awkward silence and everyone present started to applaud and cheer, “Congratulations! Long and happy life to you together!” Alex was embarrassed by this attention, but Anna was radiant with happiness. She was particularly chatty over lunch, talking about the details of the wedding and how she imagined it.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 6
When Alex got back to the station that afternoon, he didn't go to work straight away. Instead, he decided to go to Anna's house in the evening. He was pacing the living room of his small studio apartment, thinking about what he would say to Anna, coming up with various scenarios. None of them made him look good or noble even in his own eyes, so he was hesitant and fearful. But facing Anna at work in front of other people was his least favorite scenario, so Alex finally pulled all his strength and courage together and went to her house.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 5
Walking home from the dinner, Alex suddenly realized that it was not about his Party membership. Especially because the issue had never came up. Anna's father did not even ask if Alex wanted to join the Party. But his last question made Alex think about his relationship with Anna. Suddenly, it dawned on him that Anna's parents considered Alex their daughter's potential suitor and the realization scared him. He still could not imagine himself dating anyone, but with the knowledge that Anna may want more from their relationship he felt he could not continue seeing her any more. Because it would be equal to knowingly deceiving her, giving her false hope.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
Boomerang of Happiness - 4
Anna's parents were happy she was spending so much time with Alex. Since Anna was single, she still lived with them. She was the only child; her father still called her “my doll” and spoiled her like she was a little girl. By the time Anna met Alex, her father rose high up in the party ranks and was the deputy Communist Party chief for the entire station. “Big Party shot,” everyone called him. He couldn’t wait for Anna to get married and give him some grandchildren. When Anna told her parents she was dating Alex, the famed engineer with a brilliant future in store for him, Anna’s father couldn’t be happier. Once in awhile, he would ask Anna how things between her and Alex were going, and when she invariably said “fine,” he was quite satisfied.
By Lana V Lynx4 years ago in Fiction
