- Anyuta, honey, hello. Happy birthday to you, dear! - the voice was filled with caress and love, which made the young girl walking down the alley cry.

- Oh, granny ... Thank you! Well, why did you get up so early?! - with gratitude and reproach the girl answered.

- Nu, as same why?! I am not yet so old as to forget that my only granddaughter has a birthday and that at six in the morning she returns from the day. And yes, I still can't sleep.

- Okay, I convinced you. How are you, grandma? Forgive me that I didn’t call for a week, they just delayed my salary, and I couldn’t replenish my balance. But everything is fine, don't worry. It’s better to tell me how you are, - Anyuta rattled off, as naturally as possible, but since she didn’t know how to lie, Margarita Petrovna realized that this delay had greatly complicated her already difficult life for her granddaughter. Sighing heavily, the woman shook her head, but didn't say anything, knowing it was useless.

- I'm doing well: the new class does not let me get bored, the guys are very active, but I'm glad.

"I hope you don't overwork them?"

- No, dear, with them I'm getting younger. Nyura, I’ll transfer some money to your card for a present, buy something for yourself,” Margarita Petrovna asked cautiously. She knew how her granddaughter would react to this proposal, but she prepared to stand her ground to the end.

- Grandma, we already discussed this! - Anya exclaimed indignantly. - Not necessary. How will you be? Save every penny? Thanks, but I'll send it back. It's useless. You called - this is a wonderful gift, I don't need more.

“Yes, it’s not necessary,” thought Margarita Petrovna, marveling once again at what a kind, sweet person her little Nyura had become, despite the horror she had experienced, and perhaps thanks to him. Sorrow affects a person in different ways: sometimes it hardens him, and sometimes it makes him appreciate life, appreciate people and everything that surrounds us. But, if there was a choice, Margarita Petrovna would give everything so that the experienced nightmare bypassed Anna, because the price for a wonderful character and heart turned out to be too high.

- Bead, did you hear me? - tore her from her thoughts granddaughter.

- I'm sorry, honey, I thought. But in any case, I do not accept the refusal.

-Grandma...

- No "grandmothers"! Close the topic, otherwise I'll be offended.

- Oh, how formidable you are, Margarita Petrovna, - Anya scolded with a laugh and sighed noisily, accepted - after all, a gift. - Okay, have it your way, but mind you, I won’t listen to any objections on your birthday either.

- Deal. Are you OK?

- Yes, granny, don't worry, I'll pass the last exam in a week and take a full-time job. I will work and at the end of the summer I will be able to come home, - the girl said happily.

-Oh, God forbid! I haven't seen you in such a long time... I've missed you so much...

- Me too, bead. I miss you terribly.

- Come, my girl, you will have a rest though a little.

“I’ll come, I’ll definitely come,” Anyuta promised and immediately missed her. - Oh, something we chatted with you and so much money, probably, said! Everyone needs to say goodbye. I kiss you, grandma, I hug you tightly and love you very, very much, take care of yourself! - Anna said goodbye with tears

- And I you, Nyurochka! Wait so much! Grandma replied the same way.

When the girl heard the beeps, tears flowed from her eyes. She really was lonely in huge Moscow. Of course, she had friends, but still her grandmother was a dear and beloved person. In this world, they were the closest to each other. She replaced Anyuta's parents.

Her mother, despite the strict upbringing of Margarita Petrovna, grew up to be especially windy and impudent. At the age of seventeen, she left home with a yellow-mouthed youngster, who was visiting an aunt in the village, from whom she became pregnant with Nyura. It is not known what the frivolous girl hoped for, having escaped and settled with a young man in the city, but her dreams and hopes were not destined to come true. In the city, relatives had a sobering effect on the young man, and he realized that he did not need a village fool, and even with a child. Therefore, after a month and a half, the girl was on the street with a child under her heart and money for an abortion. But at that moment, upbringing manifested itself: the values ​​​​embedded in it did not allow the girl to kill her own child. For a year she hung around, worked where she had to, but in the end, such a life finished her off, and she began to drink. Natasha could not and did not want to go to her mother, shame and pride did not allow. There was always an unbridgeable gulf between them and Margarita Petrovna.

While everyone around admired Natasha's bright beauty, her lively character and sharp tongue, her mother saw in her only a narcissistic dummy who would certainly disappear in this life. Natasha could not give her mother the opportunity to be convinced of this. Yes, and she believed that not everything was lost, and she would definitely succeed.

At first she worked, drank only on weekends, alone. But three years later, it all turned into daily drinking. Now Natasha worked only at night, on the bed, which was facilitated by her already fairly shabby beauty. The daughter grew like a weed in a garden, seeing how her mother sinks every day lower to the bottom. Natasha did not pay much attention to her, the main thing was not to interfere when clients and drinking companions came to her. In rare moments of sobriety, Natalya gave Anya a mean caress, although more often the girl suffered beatings and reproaches from her mother. For most of the day, the child wandered the streets, visiting his equally unfortunate friends - abandoned dogs, cats. When the mother did not dry out at all, the girl was tormented by such a terrible hunger that sometimes it was impossible to think of anything but food. The girl began to ask for food from passers-by. It was so scary and embarrassing to talk to an outside adult and well-dressed person, and, especially, to ask for something. At first, Anya just walked around grocery stores and swallowed saliva. Once I even decided to steal a bun. But even then, some internal protest did not allow to do so. Despite the lack of education, Anna clearly knew what was good and what was bad. Still, hunger overcame her feelings, and the girl held out her hand, asking for help, crying in shame and embarrassment. She looked like an angel with her golden hair, rosy cheeks and huge sky-blue eyes, in which the pain of an unwanted child lurked. Few people walked past the girl. By evening, there was enough money in her little pouch to buy food for herself and for her mother, whom she had always cared for and loved. Still, no matter what the mother, the child always loves her. When she brought food to her mother, she usually received only an outburst of rage in response.

‍​- Anka, where have you been rummaging all day again, bitch? - so began the most terrible evening in the life of little Anyuta.

“Mom, I brought you food,” the girl said quietly, handing her mother a bag of food.

- What? You go to pity, you crush all sorts of freaks, mrazevka? - the drunken mother hissed angrily, throwing away the package and grabbing her daughter by the hair.

Anya screamed and covered her face with her hands, she was very afraid when her mother was in such a mood.

- Mommy, I just wanted to eat, don't beat me, please! The girl sobbed in a broken voice.

“Get out of here quickly to your corner before I beat you up!” And don't lean out! They will come to me now, understand me? she barked, pushing her daughter into the closet behind the screen.

Anya knew what it meant - "They will come to me now" ... Again a party, a fight and debauchery! I would run away, but I wouldn’t be able to sneak past my mother. Soon there was a loud knock, and the mother went to open the door to their miserable little family, which Natalya had bought some especially generous lover, back in the days of her moderate drinking.

The girl sat in the corner, drawing with a nail on the shabby floor. Behind the screen, a drunken crowd and vulgar music were noisy, someone came, someone left. But soon there were few people, the sound was quieter. Anyuta was already falling asleep when she heard the terrible cries of her mother. The girl was so frightened for her that she forgot about her own fears and rushed into the room. What he saw would shock an adult, not to mention a child. The mother is naked, covered in blood, drunk, angry men nearby rape and beat her. The girl screamed in horror, the mother too, and one of them, grabbing someone's belt, began to beat the girl furiously and yell at her to get out of here. The pain was wild, furiously burning. The man, in some kind of madness, beat her until she fell into unconsciousness.

At that time, Natasha's mother, who had been looking for her daughter for seven years, found out their address. But, upon arrival, she was greeted with three news: the presence of a granddaughter who was in the hospital, and the death of her daughter, who was killed by her drinking companions, rapists.

Waking up one day, Anya found an unfamiliar woman in her room, she had a pleasant, but sad and tearful face. The girl read so much warmth in her eyes that she was frightened. She was afraid of everything now, especially sleep. She kept dreaming of her mother that night. Anya was shaking and afraid when people started talking a little louder.

The woman opposite didn't say anything, just came every day and sat with her, stroking her head. Anya gradually came to her senses: her body was healing from the beatings, but she was still afraid and silent. Closer to discharge, she learned that the pleasant woman was her grandmother Margarita Petrovna, and that now she would live with her. The girl was both glad and frightened by this news, she really wanted to see her mother, but for some reason she did not come. Anya took the news of her death steadfastly, but in her soul she felt some kind of emptiness. Growing up, Anyuta often thought about her mother. Did she love her? But then the bitter cup of the girl's suffering was overflowing. Grandmother often said later that she would definitely be happy, because she drank all the bitterness in childhood.

With the grandmother, they began to communicate gradually. Margarita Petrovna did not put pressure on her, she simply gave her care, affection, love and attention, which destroyed the barrier between them. The girl answered the woman with her unspent and pure love, they soon became each other's dearest people.

Anya was the complete opposite of her mother. Kind, shy, modest, inquisitive. She was like a ray of sunshine. Even outwardly, she did not look like her mother, she could not be compared with a bright and chic rose, like Natalya. No. She was pretty, gentle, like a field daisy. Causing people not to tremble and admiration, but tenderness. Anya studied well, deciding one day to become a doctor. She really wanted to help people and be useful in society.

When she managed to enter the capital's university, the Girl was both happy and sad. She did not want to leave Margarita Petrovna, and since their financial situation was deplorable - grandmother's pension and teacher's salary, they could not count on frequent meetings. But Margarita Petrovna did not allow her to become limp, promising that they would cope if they lead a modest lifestyle.

For the first three courses, the woman sent money to Anna, because studying took the girl all the time and did not allow her to work. They had a hard time, since prices in Moscow were strikingly different from prices in their wilderness, but, as predicted by Margarita Petrovna, they succeeded. In her fourth year, Anya got a job as a nurse in the nearest hospital to the hostel and stopped taking money from her grandmother. At first she was very tired, but then she got used to it, and had time to study, work, and sleep. In everyday matters, her friends helped her a lot - they are also roommates. Their friendship began from the first year. The girls immediately realized that for Anna, studying was a priority, and therefore no one interfered with her when she taught. They always invited her to various parties, but from childhood Anyuta was disgusted with entertainment events, and the guys were frankly terrified. Therefore, she tried not to attend parties, the only outing left an unpleasant aftertaste in her soul. Her friends treated this with understanding and did not insist, for which she was grateful to them. Grandmother sometimes asked about the presence of a young man, but Anya always jokingly answered that she had not yet met her love. She didn't want to reopen an old wound by explaining that she couldn't stand even the look of a man, not to mention something else. Anya generally tried to reduce communication with representatives of the opposite sex to a minimum, so as not to feel flawed once again. She devoted herself entirely to her studies. The last year remained, and there, perhaps, she would deal with this psychological problem. So the girl thought, sitting on a bench in front of the hostel. After talking with her grandmother, she was overwhelmed with memories and pain, she did not want to go into the room. Anya just woke up when the people began to leave the hostel, looking askance at her in surprise. Smiling awkwardly at her acquaintances, she hurried to her room to get ready for a consultation before the last exam.‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‍