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NIGHT SANK DOWN

EVEN during the warue chill, as if the Arctic constantly reminded the northern city that winter and darkness were only a few hundred kilohts of July But now that October was here, now that the flat and forlorn city was shelled every day and stood barren and silent at night, the air wasn’t just cold, and the wind carried on its breath more than the Arctic It carried a distinct sense of desperation, a harried hopelessness Tatiana bundled herself into a gray coat and put Pasha’s old gray hat with earmuffs on her head and wrapped a ripped brown scarf around her neck andin the icy daggers

The bread ration had been reduced again, to 300 grarams each for Babushka and Marina Less than a kilo and a half for all of the anything else There were no eggs, no butter, no white bread, no cheese, no ar, no oatetables Once in early October, Tatiana bought three onions and ood It would have been better with more salt, but Tatiana was very careful with her salt

The faht they had to open a can of ha a short word of thanks to Deda They had to stop cooking it outside in the kitchen because the smell from the ham would permeate the communal apartment, and frequently Sarkova and Slavin and the Petrovs would come to the kitchen, stand near the stove, and say to Tatiana, "You thinknoises as Dasha sent the with unrepressed glee "That’s right, eat the haot the latest report, straight from the Führer himself Herr Hitler plans to coincide his troop withdrawal frohed hysterically "Or haven’t you heard?"

The Metanovs bought a s cast-iron stove called a bourzhuika, which had an exhaust flue that Tatiana stretched to a s in the pane The flat iron surface of the bourzhuika served as the cooktop Only a little as needed to fire up the stove; the problem was that it only warmed up a small section of the room

Alexander was still away in Karelia Dimitri was in Tikhvin No one had heard from either of theot his wish A fragmentation bomb split over Grechesky, and a piece ofTatiana wasn’t on the roof After Tatiana found out, she secretly brought a can of ha by hiulps "Anton," Tatiana said, "what about your Mama?"

"She eats at work," he said "She has soup She has oatmeal"

"What about Kirill?"

"What about hi it for Kirill or forHer curly hair started to fall out Every day Tatiana secretly made Mariska oatmeal But she knew she couldn’t continue to feed Mariska; Tatiana’s family was already unhappy with her The oatar, but it had no butter or ruel Mariska would eat it as if it were her last meal Finally Tatiana took her to the children’s ward in Grechesky Hospital, carrying her for the last block

When Tatiana was younger, she would soet to eat for half a day And then suddenly re" An e e herself, fall away fro any that Tatiana experienced, faintly at the end of Septe of October, was si sto mouth She would devour the clear soup, the black thick mud bread, the oats, and when she was done, she would fall away fro She would have so was di after work Dasha and Maan to take some crackers with them in their coat pockets on the way to work First a couple, then more and more Babushka nibbled on crackers all day while she painted or read Marina took so ave Tatiana the rest of her o to the coet her hands on The commercial store near St Nicholas’s Cathedral was far, and when Tatiana got there, she found a double irony Not only was the store bon on the crusheddated September 18 -- NO FOOD LEFT

Slowly she went hoo, Papa still alive, Dasha planning to marry

Marry Alexander