Писатель Илья Розенфельд

  I. In the Shadows They came to believe that their inconspicuousness was their secret weapon. They didn’t attract glances—unless their appearance was deliberately repellent. Unnoticeable, slipping past attention. Always on the periphery. That was their power. But what for? Against whom—and how—was it ever used? It all began with the shadow. Or rather, the habit of dwelling within it. The Unbeautiful did not choose their role; it found them—like evening descending upon a city: silently, inevitably, without asking permission. Their faces inspired no painters. No songs were written for them. Their images weren’t sought after. No one waited for them with trembling at the threshold. No one recalled them with yearning over the years. They existed—and paradoxically, it was as if they did not exist at all. Like faded wallpaper in an old parlor of the public mind: the pattern long worn away, but without it, the walls would crumble. That was their strange truth. They were unbeau...

When his father died, it was a Friday. They hadn't seen each other in a long time. And Friday became a symbol of loss for him. For the first time in his life, he felt how time could deliver blows. Each new Friday seemed to reset his grief, a stark reminder that he hadn't had the chance to say goodbye to his father. Gradually, this feeling grew into hatred. Not towards people, not towards circumstances, but towards a day of the week. He decided: Friday must be annihilated. At first, it was minor things – destroying calendars, tearing out pages marked Friday. Then his methods became more radical. He sought out and destroyed books where Friday was mentioned, bought up and burned postcards and albums featuring Friday holidays. Radio programs and TV shows airing on Friday ignited his fury. He filed complaints, lobbied for laws, even enlisted lawyers to have Friday removed from the calendar. "Friday is a mistake!" he insisted, addressing officials. But it wasn't...