A contemporary, authorial interpretation of Ivan Bunin’s short story, «Light Breath»
Briefly
A 21-year-old HSE student, Olya Meshcherskaya, was murdered. Her body was found in the park, the crime garnered significant attention, but the killer was never caught.
Olya was vibrant, sincere, and free-spirited from childhood. After high school, she enrolled at HSE and led an active, independent life. Her classmate, Sasha Malyutin, silently observed her for years—stagnating his own life and perceiving Olya as the center of his world. At school, he killed her boyfriend, Danya, by staging a robbery, and years later, after a chance encounter, he raped and murdered Olya.
After the second killing, Sasha returns to his former way of life. Several months later, he comes to the university and meets HER—well, almost.
«Olya always said that you should live lightly. But no one explained that people who don’t know how to breathe sometimes want to take someone else’s air.»
Early on January 21 in a park in Southwest Moscow, the body of a young woman was found. Red lipstick was smeared across her face…