Logos: The Boy and the witch
Chapter 1: The Boy
In the dreary slums of St. Petersburg, amidst the filth and despair, lived a boy named Sasha. At ten years old, Sasha had already known more hardship than most endure in a lifetime. His mother, Vika, was a prostitute, her nights spent with strangers and her days lost in a haze of cheap vodka. She cared little for Sasha, leaving him to fend for himself in the cold, unforgiving streets. Sasha’s clothes were tattered, and his stomach often growled with hunger. He roamed the alleys, searching for scraps of food from dumpsters or a kind soul willing to spare a coin. Despite his circumstances, a glimmer of intelligence shone in his bright blue eyes. One of Sasha’s few comforts was to climb a hill overlooking a small school. From his perch, he watched the children laugh and play during recess. He envied their carefree joy and the warmth of their companionship. Sometimes, he would sneak to the edge of the school building and press his ear against a hole he had managed to carve on the wooden walls, listening as the teacher read stories and fairy tales. These moments offered him a brief escape from his harsh reality. He got lost on his imagination as he heard the teacher read Leon Tolstoy’s tales, his literature hero. One gray afternoon, as the snow began to fall, Sasha wandered further than usual, driven by the gnawing emptiness in his stomach. The sun dipped below the…
