The Water Tower (Russian: «Водонапорная башня») is a short story by Victor Pelevin, published in 1990.
One might assume that the story describes the vivid experiences of Pelevin himself, but its time frame is shifted backward: the hero's childhood memory is of the builders laying out the year "1928" on the water tower.
[5][6] Of the images presented in the story: first impressions of childhood, adult memories of the Civil War, school, geography teacher, pioneer camp, fashion for aviation and pilots, repressions of the 30s, songs by Utesov, the Great Patriotic War, children, Stalin's death, work, cosmonauts, Soviet "Victory" cars, the death of his wife, jogging in the park, the impression of old age and the near-death pain in the heart.
The water tower becomes a point of account for the narrator's multiple observations and reflections, opens up his life and description, and then closes, creating a circular composition.
The author seems to shift the vertical of time, taking 1928 as a preconditioned reference point (perhaps a random date seen on this tower).