Irina is a rural paramedic in some Russian region. She moved here alone. She likes these parts; her great-grandparents were from here. She moved into her ancestral home and restored it. Her parents were city people and didn’t approve of the move. They thought it was a foolish whim and a huge mistake. In one of the old drawers, Irina found a photograph of her great-grandma in a wedding headdress, a kika. Irina cleaned and restored the oven. She installed indoor plumbing and even a sewage system. She planted a small garden, without any flowers. Irina doesn’t like flowers.
At the end of a workday packed with old lady patients and one pregnant teen, a village teacher brings Irina a draft notice. Irina doesn’t touch the call-up paper, as if it’s radioactive. The school district instructed the teacher to deliver it. He leaves the notice on the table and rejoices a bit. He’s not afraid of Irina but he fears the draft notice, as though the bureaucratic violence of this piece of paper bears on him too. A few years back, when Irina had just moved here, she rejected his sexual advances. He has a small bald spot and three children. They are the reason he won’t get drafted. For now.
