Alex was left bewildered when his wife suddenly vanished Larissa stood at the rain-streaked window, gazing out over the dull courtyard. Alex flicked through news on his phone, occasionally tutting, showing his wife the most outrageous post. ‘Lara,’ he said, without lifting his eyes, ‘could you pop out to the shop? I fancy something for tea.’ She turned and looked at her husband. When was the last time he went shopping himself? ‘Alex, can’t you go?’ ‘I’m knackered from work. And anyway, you know better what to get.’ She knew better, of course—because she’d done the shopping for fifteen years, always made the lists, counted the money, remembered when the salt was about to run out and knew that Nastya wouldn’t eat cottage cheese. ‘What do you actually know about our shopping?’ she asked quietly. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘How many litres of milk do we use a week?’ Alex was stumped. ‘I dunno—a lot?’ ‘Which cottage cheese do I buy?’ ‘The normal one?’ ‘Prostokvashino, nine percent. Lisa won’t eat any other. Which bread do we get?’ ‘Lara, why the quiz?’ ‘Because,’ Larissa set her cup on the windowsill, ‘you live in this house like a hotel guest. Food appears, things get washed, children get dressed—all by magic.’ ‘Oh, come on,’ Alex tore himself from his phone. ‘I work! I earn the money!’ ‘I work too. But I have a second shift at home.’ ‘Mum,’ Nastya looked up, ‘the parents’ evening is tomorrow. Will you go?’ ‘Of course.’ ‘And Dad?’ Larissa glanced at Alex. He shrugged. ‘I’ve got an important meeting.’ ‘And my work isn’t important?’ ‘That’s not it—’ ‘So what is it? Are the children just my responsibility?’ ‘Well, you get on better with the teachers.’ Larissa chuckled, strangely, sadly. ‘You know what I just realised? You can’t name Lisa’s form teacher. You don’t remember which day Nastya has English. And you think this is just normal division of duties.’ ‘Isn’t it?’ ‘Alex,’ she sat across from him. ‘Honestly—if I disappeared tomorrow, what would you do?’ ‘Don’t be daft.’ ‘Answer.’ He paused, clearly thinking hard. ‘I’d manage. Somehow.’ ‘Somehow. You don’t know where the children’s documents are. You don’t know the number for their GP. You don’t know their shoe sizes.’ ‘I’d find out!’ Nastya and Lisa exchanged a worried glance—the tension was palpable. ‘Lara,’ Alex’s voice softened, ‘what’s happened? Why all this now?’ ‘It’s not just now. It’s been building for years. I thought that’s how it’s meant to be—a woman pulls everything. But now I realise—it’s not meant to be.’ That night she lay awake, counting. Fifteen years of marriage. Over five thousand days of waking up first, sleeping last; making breakfasts, checking homework, washing, cleaning, remembering vaccines and birthdays. And Alex? He worked. And thought that was enough. In the morning she made up her mind. ‘Girls,’ she told her daughters at breakfast, ‘this evening I’m going to stay with Granny Rose.’ ‘For long?’ Lisa asked. ‘A week. Maybe more.’ Alex looked up from his coffee. ‘What? But I’ve got work.’ ‘You’ve got a week to see how this house runs without me.’ ‘Lara, this is running away!’ ‘No,’ she cleared the table, ‘it’s an experiment.’ ‘What kind of experiment?’ ‘To see if you can be master of your own house for a week.’ By lunchtime Larissa had packed her bags. Alex darted anxiously after her, protesting that it was nonsense, that he understood, that they’d sort it. ‘When will you be back?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Larissa replied honestly. ‘When I feel wanted. Not just used.’ Granny Rose—Alex’s mum—greeted them with suspicion. ‘What’s happened? A row?’ ‘Not a row. I’m just tired of being the maid.’ ‘Maid? Nonsense! You’re a wife, a mother!’ ‘Exactly. Wife and mother. Not a servant.’ Rose shook her head. ‘In my day, women managed everything and didn’t moan.’ ‘And what did men do back then?’ ‘Worked to support the family!’ ‘And that’s it?’ ‘Well, what else?’ Rose was genuinely surprised. Larissa looked at the seventy-year-old woman—who’d spent her life running a home solo, and never once asked her son to wash a single dish. ‘Rose, did you ever get tired of doing it all yourself for forty years?’ ‘Tired,’ she replied quietly, unexpectedly. ‘Very tired. But what could I do? That’s a woman’s lot.’ ‘No. It’s not a lot. It’s a choice.’ For three days Alex called every night, complaining that Nastya refused to eat his burgers, Lisa couldn’t find her PE kit, and he had no idea what time to pick them up from school. ‘Ask the girls,’ suggested Larissa. ‘They don’t know anything!’ ‘They know. You just never asked.’ On the fourth day, Alex stopped calling. Worried, Larissa rang him herself. ‘Hello?’ His voice was tired, hoarse. ‘How’s it going?’ ‘Bloody awful,’ Alex admitted. There was silence. ‘Lara, I’ve had enough. I get it. I get it now.’ ‘What do you get?’ ‘That I’m a rubbish dad. And a rubbish husband. And that you’re a hero, for God’s sake. I had no idea how hard it was.’ Larissa closed her eyes. For the first time in fifteen years, her husband said it was hard for her. ‘It’s not about being hard or easy. It’s about the family being all of us together. Not just me, plus a bunch of spectators.’ ‘Please come home.’ ‘Soon.’ On the seventh day, Granny Rose broached the subject. ‘Love, maybe that’s enough of the lesson? Alex called. He nearly cried.’ Larissa came home after ten days. ‘Girls!’ She hugged her daughters. ‘I missed you so much!’ ‘We missed you!’ Nastya hung on to her. ‘Dad learned how to boil pasta!’ ‘Really?’ Larissa smiled. ‘He learned to do laundry, too,’ Lisa added. ‘Though he turned my jumper pink.’ Alex looked apologetically at his wife. ‘I didn’t know you had to wash colours separately.’ On the kitchen table was a to-do list—in Alex’s handwriting. The girls’ club timetables, doctors’ phone numbers, menu for the week. ‘What’s this?’ Larissa asked, surprised. ‘Got organised,’ Alex replied sheepishly. That night, after the children had gone to bed, they sat in the kitchen with tea. ‘I’m so sorry,’ Alex said. ‘I was blind. I thought everything just sorted itself. I was a complete idiot—in a fairy-tale house run by elves.’ Larissa laughed—for the first time in days, sincerely. ‘Not elves. One exhausted woman.’ ‘No more. I promise. I’ve made a rota: who cooks, who cleans, who helps the kids. Fairly split.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Really.’ Outside, the rain fell steadily—but inside, warmth returned. Sometimes, a woman needs to disappear so a man learns to value her. You might call this a fairy tale—but it’s not.