Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
A Bitter New Beginning
The protagonist enters a corrections class hoping to return to normal school. Mishka, Mitka, and Vitka are introduced within a hostile and emotionally detached student group.
Key Events
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Return To School — The protagonist enters a special class and meets Mishka, Mitka, Vitka, and other students. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School
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Corrections Classroom — The students are placed together in a class intended to prepare them for a school commission. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: Special classroom
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Train Stunt Introduced — The group engages in a dangerous game involving lying beneath a moving train. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: Railway tracks
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Classmate Is Killed — A classmate is killed while attempting the train stunt. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: Railway tracks
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Cruel Laughter — The group treats the death as a joke, revealing its disturbing emotional callousness. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: Railway tracks
Cruelty Beneath The Tracks
The students treat a fatal train stunt as entertainment, exposing their callousness. Their teachers’ contempt deepens the class’s lack of direction.
Key Events
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Cruel Laughter — The group treats the death as a joke, revealing its disturbing emotional callousness. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: Railway tracks
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Teachers Show Contempt — The teachers display contempt for the corrections class and offer little motivation. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School classroom
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Group Rejects Improvement — The students show little desire to improve or return to a normal class. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School classroom
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Passage Is Urged — The protagonist urges the students to focus on passing the end-of-year commission. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School classroom
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Relationship Causes Jealousy — The protagonist’s relationship with a kind classmate upsets the rest of the group. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School
Jealousy Takes Shape
The protagonist urges the group to pursue academic progress, but her relationship with a kind classmate creates resentment. Mishka turns that resentment into a violent plan.
Key Events
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Relationship Causes Jealousy — The protagonist’s relationship with a kind classmate upsets the rest of the group. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School
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Mishka Devises A Plan — Mishka concocts a plan with the group to sexually assault the protagonist. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School
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Wheelchair Is Stolen — The group steals the protagonist’s wheelchair to separate her from her companion. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School grounds
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Companion Is Separated — The stolen wheelchair helps the group isolate the protagonist from her companion. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School grounds
Violence By The Tracks
The group steals the protagonist’s wheelchair and isolates her. Mishka and Mitka attack her while Vitka records the event, leaving her injured.
Key Events
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Companion Is Separated — The stolen wheelchair helps the group isolate the protagonist from her companion. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School grounds
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Assault Begins — Mishka and Mitka attempt to rape the protagonist while Vitka records the assault. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: Near the railway tracks
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Attack Fails — The attackers cannot complete the act but leave the protagonist beaten and bruised. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: Near the railway tracks
A Cruel Verdict
The commission passes every student except the protagonist. The group offers insults instead of an explanation, while the final image reveals her walking without assistance.
Key Events
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Final School Day — The final day arrives, and the students await the commission’s decisions. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School
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Results Are Announced — Every student except the protagonist passes and is cleared to leave the corrections class. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School
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The Group Is Questioned — The protagonist asks the group why they committed the attack. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School hallway
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Cruel Insults Follow — Mishka, Mitka, and Vitka respond with cruel insults rather than remorse. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School hallway
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The Group Walks Away — The group leaves while the protagonist remains excluded after the commission’s decision. Characters: Mishka, Mitka, Vitka
Location: School hallway
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Unassisted Walking — The protagonist appears behind her crying mother, walking without assistance or her wheelchair.
Location: School hallway
Lena is a bright, disabled girl who, after years spent studying at home, is keen to get back to school. She is assigned to a special class for disabled pupils who have to present themselves before a school commission at the end of the year in order to prove that they merit being moved back into a "normal" class. Her enervated teachers, however, show absolutely no desire to motivate the students and help them improve; on the contrary, they try to quash right from the start any interest Lena shows in more complex study material. Nevertheless, Lena soon involves herself in the school routine and gets together with classmate Anton. Yet their transparent happiness is not to everyone's liking and repercussions soon follow.