Тёмная Башня. Dark Tower. Премия им. Э.Т.А. Гофмана / E.T.A. Hoffmann award (Билингва: Rus / Eng)
by the bonfire. How many souls were there? Anyway, I couldn’t count, Mr. Fog clearly didn’t want us to see each other.
«What are they throwing into the bonfire? There is no wood at all!» I asked the Man in a whisper.
«Stories!» he smiled.
«And you both will definitely tell us yours, too,» the Woman smiled, handing cups of tea from a thermos to me and my neighbor.
«What for… tea and thermos?!» I asked the Man, without ceasing to be surprised at what was happening, when the Woman left for the fog.
«It’s more familiar,» the Man answered calmly, and at the same moment a sad female voice sounded out of the fog.
«He told me, „See you tomorrow!“» I heard it and regretted I had nothing with me to write down the stories thrown into the bonfire by ghosts that night, but… if I ever come back…
Suddenly I felt someone’s gaze on me. I turned around and saw an Angel.
«Hello,» I whispered. «Have you come for me?»
«Yes,» he nodded.
«The bonfire stories are still going on,» I tried to protest, as I felt cozy in the fog that hid the faces of the storytellers, and I was about to share my own.
«Don’t be upset!» the Angel smiled as he read my mind. «The bonfire won’t go out for a long time, and stories will follow each other until the last soul leaves the Earth. Now you have to go.»
I looked at the Man. For some reason, I didn’t want to say goodbye to him.
«Well, go,» he patted my shoulder. «I’ll find you later.»
«In the City of the Sun or in the Land of Dreams?»
«Wherever it is written in the Tablets,» the Man sighed.
The Angel held out his hand to me, and we walked away from the bonfire.
«Where are we going?» I asked.
«To the Chancellery.»
«What about the queue? Or…»
«No… however, there are exceptions to every rule.»
We stepped abruptly out of the fog and found ourselves on the outskirts of the City, flooded with the Sun, at the entrance to a skyscraper. I noticed several angels bypassing the queue to lead inside the souls guarded by them. We followed them in. The Angel asked me to wait for him on a bench at the ajar door to the Courtroom, next to others like me waiting something out of turn.
«What a pity,» sighed the Boy sitting to my right.
«Pity? For what?» I decided to clarify.
«We are here and not there,» he answered sadly.
«Why?» I asked, not understanding what he meant. «And where is „there“?»
«I want to be an angel,» the Boy sighed again. «„There“ means in the general queue. And we are here… There is almost no chance to become angels from here.»
«Why not?» I wondered, still understanding nothing.
«My grandma used to say that all children leaving the Earth become angels. Outside the queue, only exceptions are served.»
A devil’s head popped out of the Courtroom.
«Shit! What the Hell are you talking about?! Shut up you both, exceptions! In this Hall, the most interesting begins! And I can’t hear a damn thing because of your chatter!»
«I’m awfully sorry,» I whispered apologetically and involuntarily walked over to the ajar door.
The Moonlight Sonata was playing there, the lights were dimmed. Frozen in anticipation, the judges were ready to listen. The left bowl of Libra tilted almost to the limit, although it contained only one scroll of jubilant demons. Images from the earthly life of yet another soul started projecting on the screen…
What I heard in the Courtroom was shocking, but…
«It’s time to go,» it sounded from behind me.
I turned around and saw my Angel.
«To the Courtroom?» I asked to clarify.
«No, it’s still too early for that,» he smiled. «Everything has its Time.»
«Is there any Time here?» I wondered.
«Yes and no. Everything has its Time. Besides, we’re in the Border Zone.»
The Angel took me by the hand, and we instantly moved back, into the fog, and I could hardly see in it… another queue!
The Angel read my mind.
«No, this is another one,» he replied, «for those descending to Earth.»
«But I’ve just come from there, haven’t I?»
«Yes and no. It’s been decided Upstairs that you should urgently return to your body. As an exception to the rule.»
«Is that why you took me out of the queue to the Chancellery?»
«Right!»
«And that Boy who wants to become… an angel, is he also an exception?»
«Yes, he is, as well.»
«So he won’t become an angel. It’s a pity.»
«Everything has its Time,» repeated the Angel.
We approached the house with the inscription «Customs». At the «Passport control» window, I noticed a Black Raven, stamping the passports of those descending. It was interesting that those standing in the queue to Earth differed in their density and… age, and one could guess the profession from the attire of the soul. All types and kinds were there, in that queue!
«So is everything predetermined?» I asked my Angel.
«Not everything, otherwise what’s the point of descending?» he sighed and added, «Wait for me here! I need to arrange something with the Border Guardian.»
I sat down on one of the benches nearby, almost entirely filled with various souls.
«Excuse me,» I turned to my neighbor, «why are you almost transparent while most of those in the queue are dense enough?»
«You seem to be here for the first time,» the neighbor sighed. «I am a restless soul, and they go to incarnate! Being drawn to Earth, we go back.»
«Do you have a passport too?»
«Certainly.»
«Do you need a visa to Earth?»
«Of course.»
«But why?» I was surprised. «Why do you come back?»
«Me personally? I’m coming back to help. And in general, everyone has their own.»
Hearing our conversation, a few restless souls silently flew up to me.
«You seem to be an exception to the rule!» one of them exclaimed joyfully. «Do you want us to tell you our stories? You’ll share them on Earth when you are back!»
«Yes, I do!» I nodded.
I noticed my Angel leaving the Customs. I stepped towards him, but stumbled and… no, I didn’t fall, I flew somewhere down, through a wall of fog, until I collapsed to the ground in the forest.
I got up and looked around. The gloomy forest, shrouded in a thick gray-blue haze, looked frightening. Tall trees stood like idols, absolutely leafless, and there was no grass on the ground, and no one to be seen at all. And yet, I heard owls hooting, snakes hissing, strange voices and even steps somewhere nearby!
I walked wherever I could, understanding neither where I was nor how to return to my Angel, as suddenly I ran into a red-haired