Sonia Kharitoniouk

Deeply religious Sima lives in the shadow of her parents' strict guidance but seems content with her choices. She turns down an unexpected offer to work as a model. On her nameday, Sima is overtaken by a vaguely familiar nightmare: she pulls her hand away from her mother's touch, as if from a flame, and when her father calls her "a pure angel of God," she storms away from the festive table. Rosary. Icon. Meat. A candle. Rosary. Hands. Not hers. Cross. Scream. Meat. Fire. But not here, just not here. This cannot be happening.