Tvaikonu Str. 5, Lv1007, Riga, Latvia -

The date of the first mass Soviet deportation from the Baltic states. June 14, 1941.

Marta Lapiņa. Tvaikonu str. 5, LV1007, Riga, Latvia.

She woke on the floor of an empty apartment. Dust. Rot. Cold. The radio gone. The place settings gone. Her phone had one bar. The screen showed 11:47 AM, June 14, 2024. Exactly 83 years to the hour after the deportations. tvaikonu str. 5, lv1007, riga, latvia

Marta’s skin went cold, then hot. She touched the nearest teacup. It was warm. She lifted the folded paper. Beneath it, carved into the wooden chair’s backrest, was a name: Marta Lapiņa.

Inside, the staircase spiraled upward, wrong. The steps were too shallow, the banister too cold, even for Riga in November. On the first landing, a single bare bulb flickered, casting shadows that didn't match the angles of the room. The walls were covered in layered wallpaper—1950s florals peeling over 1930s geometries, over something older: newspaper print in a language she almost recognized but couldn't read. The date of the first mass Soviet deportation

Then silence.

She folded the paper slowly, walked to the Daugava River, and threw it in. It sank immediately, like lead. Tvaikonu str

She spun toward the door. It was gone. In its place, a mirror. In the mirror, she saw the room behind her—but different. No wallpaper decay. No dust. The nine people were there now, standing quietly, dressed in coats and worn shoes, suitcases at their feet. A woman with her grandmother’s face—same cheekbones, same tired eyes—stepped forward and whispered in old Latvian: