Thirst

By Andreĭ Gelasimov

Subjects: Veterans, Fiction, general, Fiction, Disfigured persons

Description: Kostoya returns from the Chechen War with a face so maimed it looks like a piece of meat. He confines himself to his lonely apartment, with no company save the vodka in his refrigerator. The woman next door checks on him regularly to see that he's still alive, and when she discovers the power his disfigured face has over her misbehaving son, she takes to using Kostoya as a disciplinary influence.