On April 25, 1986, Katya woke up as she did on any other morning. Her long blonde hair was completely tangled which upset her because she wished she could wake up and already look beautiful. "Katya, come on! I have to leave for work now." Vladimir, her father, yelled. "I'm coming, papa! Just give me a minute!" Katya huffed. Her mother had died when she was little, leaving much of her roles in the house like making breakfast for Katya to fulfil. She quickly put on a dress, it wasn't her favourite but she simply did not have the time to go looking through her closet for something better. "Good morning, anything exciting going on at work today?" Katya asked while she made her dad a pot of coffee. "Just the usual. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is not known for being an exciting place to be." he grunted. As they ate breakfast together they did not talk much, Vladimir read his newspaper and Katya finished her science homework. She was not usually someone who waited until the morning something was due to finish it so this was a rare occasion. Vladimir finished his coffee and said, "Goodbye, I might have to work late tonight so don't wait up for me." Shortly after he left so did Katya, it was just a short walk to her high school.

"Katya! Katya! I tried calling you 5 times last night!" Olga exclaimed as her best friend entered the classroom. "What? What is it?" Katya asked. "My parents gave me permission to go to Mariya's party so if your dad says yes then we can both go!" Olga informed. Katya let out a sigh of worry, "Doesn't Olga know that my dad is ten times more strict than her parents?" she thought. "Well, I wouldn't hold your breath. I think my dad wouldn't let me attend my own funeral out of an "abundance of caution"." Katya joked. Mr Ulanov entered the room so the two friends quieted down. He was quite old and everyone always wondered when he would retire. Though he wasn't that strict he still managed to put the fear of God in all of his students, especially Katya who had always been reared to respect her elders. Olga whispered to her, "Did you finish the homework?". Katya replied, "Yeah, why?". "Can I copy your answers?" Olga replied with an embarrassed look on her face. Katya nodded her head, she had come to expect Olga to ask that question every time there was homework from any of their shared classes. Katya was far more studious than her best friend.

As Katya sat beside Olga at their usual lunch table in the cafeteria, the topic of the party returned. "I thought of a way you can go to the party, just say we're having a sleepover at my house! It's not like he'll know the difference." Olga suggested. Katya shook her head, "Won't work. My dad is smart. He'll call your parents and then find out where I am.". "Well, can we hang out today?" Olga asked. "I have work, remember?" Katya reminded. "Oh, boohoo, you're no fun!" Olga whined. Katya rolled her eyes, "Of course Olga would not understand. With her parents' money, she probably will not have to work a day in her life." she thought. Despite their disagreement, the girls found themselves back to being all smiles with each other by the end of lunch.

Katya did not enjoy her afternoon classes as much as the ones she had in the morning. She was a shy girl so apart from Olga, she did not get along with anyone else and she did not have a class with her after lunch. In math class, she sat in the back and felt annoyed anytime Boris, the captain of the ski team, opened his obnoxious mouth. Then came science class which though she enjoyed the content, she did not like her lab partner. She was paired with Svetlana, a very popular girl who was always sneaking out of class to see her boyfriend. However, today Svetlana's boyfriend was at home with a cold so she was more productive. "Katya, how come you do not talk much? Is it because I am intimidating?" Svetlana asked. "No, I am just not that chatty." Katya retorted. "Well, you should change that. You will never become popular if no one has ever heard you say a peep." Svetlana advised. "I do not want to become popular." Katya scoffed. Svetlana laughed and then grew tired of trying to be "nice" to Katya so the two of them worked on their lab in silence.

Katya did not have much time from when school ended and her shift at the bakery started. It was run by Polina Ivanov, a family friend who didn't really need the extra help but loved Katya enough to do her the favour. "How was your school today?" Polina asked Katya as she took the sharlotka out of the oven. "Oh, nothing much happened. Has it been busy here today?" Katya replied. "In the morning, yes but after lunch everything just kind of quieted down. Are you hungry? I made too much for this person that ordered vatrushkas so you can eat the leftovers." Polina offered. Katya shook her head and Polina returned to the kitchen. Though Katya found it stressful when the bakery was busy she preferred it to the insufferable boredom of slow days like this. "Can I turn on the radio?" Katya yelled to Polina. Polina yelled back, "No! I can't concentrate with any background noise.". "But you won't be able to hear it, you're in the kitchen and I'm not going to have it on too loud." Katya argued. "Katya, no is my answer and so long as I am your employer you must respect my wishes." Polina retorted. "Well, there goes the one way this afternoon could've been fun." Katya thought. Slowly but surely the hours went by, the after-work crowd provided some more customers much to both the ladies' delight.

When Katya's shift ended the sky was dark. She quickly walked home because there was a slight breeze in the air and she had not worn a jacket. "I should've eaten those leftovers Polina offered me. I'm starving." she thought on the bus ride home. The second she got home she made cabbage soup, "This'll make me feel warmer." she said to herself. Katya felt lonely on nights like these where her dad wasn't home, they might not always get along but some company was better none. She did not have any homework so she decided to watch T.V and paint her nails. "You know what? I'm gonna treat myself and eat some ice cream." Katya decided. Her celebrations were not welcomed by everyone, within half an hour of turning on the T.V there was a knock at the door. "Excuse me, miss, do you know how loud that it is?" said an elderly man. "Oh, I am sorry. It did not seem that loud to me but I can turn it down if you like." Katya apologized. "Yes, that would be preferable." the elderly man replied. Katya let out a sigh after he left but did respect his wishes.

Katya decided to go to bed at a good time even though it was Friday. "I wonder what happened to Papa. This is late even for him." she thought as she slipped into her pyjamas. She tried not to overthink about what he was doing and why he still hadn't come home. Her efforts to calm herself down succeeded and within half an hour of hopping into bed she was sound asleep. She was midway through a lovely dream where she was a millionaire and owned all the expensive clothing she wanted when she woke up to the sound of people talking loudly. "What is going on?" Katya wondered. She went out to her balcony and was shocked to see everyone else was there too. "What happened?" Katya asked Natasha, her next-door neighbour.