This book contains stories united not only by a common theme, but also by the fate of the narrator, a famous journalist and writer, the author of high-profile publications in the Literary Gazette. For the most part, the basis of the stories told by I. Gamayunov are actual events of ancient and recent years. Seen from our time with sharpened vision, they form a dramatic picture of the “life of feelings” that drive the actions of the heroes of the story. The main characters of his short stories: a poetess and a student, a journalist and a huntsman, a young operative who seduces an elderly official and plants her a bribe for the sake of good reporting, the legendary Army commander Mironov, who fell in love with the schoolgirl who shared his fate with him - all of them, with their lives, tragically cut short or still continuing, again and again confirm the great truth: true life, freed from the shackles of lies and self-deception, is the comprehension of love.