The Chronicles of a Memory Cartographer: Russia 1

Ivangorod The kitchen smells of burnt tea and cigarettes, which nobody smokes anymore. Ludmila keeps touching the icon above the stove—Saint Nicholas, patron of travellers and thieves—like muscle memory from a childhood that predates fear. I spread the map across sticky linoleum, weighting the corners with whatever’s handy: a jar of pickles, Sandi’s phone, the…