A Guardian Angel. Oscar Wilde Award. Playing Another Reality

***

around 15:00,

Moscow, the Union of Writers

White appeared in the House of Serving to Creativity.

“Hello, bro!” exclaimed the guardian of the Woman. “I didn’t recognize you at first, so gloomy you are! Something wrong?”

“It’s too long to explain. They say your ward is organizing a writers’ trip to the London Book Fair, right?”

“That’s right.”

“We need to send Alice to London as a member of the delegation. Just don’t ask me why.”

“If you are kidding, it would be cooler to ask for it on the eve of departure!”

“That’s not all. She has no money for the trip. We have to solve it somehow.”

“Bro, you must be tired! You need a rest! How can we get money for Alice in a public non-profit organization?”

“She really needs to get there.”

“Well, of course, Alice is a good writer. But think for yourself, what is she going to do there? It’s a specific fair! Not like that in Paris! Talking to the Minister of Culture is out of the question.”

“That’s not what she needs.”

“Hasn’t she been to London?”

“She’s been to London twice, but she needs to meet a man in London.”

“Why don’t you ask the guardian of that man to send him from London to Moscow? Does he have no money and no useful contacts?”

“On the contrary, he is very rich, he has a lot of VIP contacts and there’s no need to send him here. He lives in Moscow.”

The guardian of the Woman twisted his finger at his temple, “Bro, you should rest! It’s hard for you with Alice, she’s not easy, I know. But not to that extent to complicate things so much!”

“I beg you. It has to be done this way. Send her to London.”

The guardian of the Woman sighed, “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. I’ll let you know by tonight!”

***

midnight, Moscow, Alice’s kitchen

Alice was playing solitaire on the Man in White in the kitchen by candlelight. Her guardian gloomier than a cloud was sitting on the windowsill nearby. The guardian of the Woman appeared. He sat down on the windowsill opposite White and said, “Tell her to turn on her phone. She turned it off too early.”

White turned to Alice, “Turn on the phone, an ungrateful sheep!”

Alice stood up, went into the corridor, looked for a phone in her bag. Having found it, she turned it on, returned to the kitchen and continued to play solitaire.

A minute later the phone rang. Alice was silent for a long time, listening to the Woman. The girl’s pupils dilated in surprise. She couldn’t believe her ears, “Me?”

White exhaled, “God bless you, bro!”

“It’s not that simple, White. Alice has to sacrifice something for this.”

“What exactly?”

“She must return to serve us in the House of Serving to Creativity.”

“Too much blows for one day! You can’t imagine how much I’ve organized to get her to the company she works now!”

“You did it so that she could meet the VIP, but Alice missed her chance today. It makes no sense for her to remain in that place any longer. Let her complete and launch the project, and as soon as…”

“Bro, but…”

“You know perfectly well what her Zodiacal dial shows in the coming Solar year. Some of Pluto’s energy in the 6th Sphere will be shifted to the line of work to weaken the blow to the line of health. Try to make her transition painless. If she doesn’t guess or resists like a ram, which is typical of any Aries, we should even involve the Dark ones. The 6th Sphere is in charge of Service and Diseases. Alice knows that. She’ll either serve others or…”

“By what date should she return?”

“No later than the beginning of the period of Saturn, June 16. It’s vital for Alice to transfer the energy limited by Saturn into Creativity. Where else do you think should she be if not in the House of Serving to Creativity? By the way, a year ago, Alice was saved from death in the car accident, partly because she had come to work in our House three days before the start of her Saturn period.”

Chapter 1.5. Elabuga

April 4, evening,

Moscow, Vnukovo airport

Alice arrived at the airport. Flight delays were constantly announced. She was nervous, she couldn’t be late. The Solar didn’t wait for anyone, it turned on the place it found a person. An invisible photographer would press the button of the invisible camera to fix the position of the planets above the newborn, and the program would start.

It was the 4th day of the 4th month and the 4th day of the week. In China, 4 is the number that brings death. Alice’s previous Solar year with Saturn in 8 (which could be interpreted as the goal for the year was Death) would end only the next morning, and until that moment she still needed to survive somehow. What if Death didn’t step aside after her car accident in June?

However, Alice’s flight started boarding on time.

Alice got on the plane. The guardian scanned the Space of Options. It’s possible to scan in advance, but since every minute a huge number of creatures on Earth take different steps to the left or right moving in space, the options change so rapidly that at the very last moment you can find yourself not at all where you expected to be the day before.

The plane started moving and was ready to take off, as White suddenly discovered the unforeseen and instantly appeared in the cockpit, grabbed the hand of a guardian and shouted, “What are you doing?! Stop it! Right now!”

The plane stopped.

“Hello, bro, what’s up? Is something wrong?”

White visualized a holographic projection of the Space of Options in the air, which suddenly became almost 100% real. The pilot’s guardian called Takeoff closed his eyes for a moment in horror, and then said, “Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee! Bro, listen, how did you see it? I checked everything five minutes ago!”

The plane started taking off again. The pilot’s guardian stopped it again.

“All right, Takeoff, I leave for my ward,” said White. “In short, you get it, we can take off not earlier than in 15 minutes. Spin as you like.”

Takeoff shook White’s hand with a feeling of immense gratitude. The plane took off at the 5th attempt. Alice fell asleep.

***

Nizhnekamsk airport, night

Alice left the airport. All sorts of taxi drivers ran up to her and offered to take her to the right place. White drew the ring “Transgress me not” around Alice, and as long as she moved towards the brightest taxi driver, the ring didn’t dissolve.

Alice was sitting in the car next to the driver. He talked her about Elabuga and read poetry. Their guardians were on the back seats, talking about the vicissitudes of their jobs.

“Have you managed to deal against the accident, bro?” White asked.

“I have, White! True, I had to get the truck driver dead drunk. Otherwise, it didn’t work. On the way back, Alice has to book a taxi at the hotel. My ward will leave for his mother-in-law tomorrow, she needs help, so he won’t be able to drive Alice back. But I’ll send her a no less light one.”

Alice got a call from the director of the Memorial Complex, who asked her about the flight, if everything was in order. They confirmed the meeting in the hotel lobby the next morning at 9 o’clock.

***

Elabuga, night, the hotel in the center

Alice entered the hotel and was kindly welcomed with smiles. They said they had visited her website and read her works. Alice was given the keys to the room number 33 and was told, “If something doesn’t suit you, we can change the room!”

The room was very cozy. Alice instantly fell asleep. White went down into the hall to his colleagues and spent time in pleasant conversation in a bright society, each member of which shared their successes and failures in their work.

***

April 5, morning, Elabuga

Alice went down for breakfast and marveled at the generous buffet selection. The cook’s guardian broke into a pleased smile and winked at White. The director of the Memorial Complex took Alice on an excursion tour.

“First of all, I’ll take you to the Devil’s Hill.”

Alice raised one eyebrow in surprise. It happened very rarely, when she was really overly surprised. White joyfully said to the director’s guardian (both on the back seats in the car), “Thank you, bro! It’s exactly the place she needs right now!”

“She’ll feel it herself, you’ll see!”

The car stopped at the top of the mountain. Everything was in snow. They went out into the fresh air and saw an ancient tower in the distance.

“May I ask you an indiscreet question? What brought you to us?” the director asked on the way to the tower.

“A long story. Briefly, I’m changing the Space of Options. More correctly to say, my Solar year. I’m moving the Sun out of the Dungeon, shifting Spheres in the right order.”

The director’s guardian exclaimed in admiration, “White! She is an advanced user! She knows such words!”

“Solar is something stellar, isn’t it?” the director asked.

“Yours is no less advanced!” White laughed.

“Yes, it’s a photo of the sky taken on the date of one’s birthday,” Alice answered the director.

“So is it your birthday today?”

Alice nodded. They approached the tower. The director started the story from the way Marina Tsvetaeva had arrived to Elabuga passing the road directly under the Devil’s Hill. Alice listened stroking the tower with her hands and probing it energetically. She walked it around clockwise, leant her back against the wall, squinting at the Sun.

“Alice, are you by any chance a psychic?” the director asked with a smile and continued the story. “There was a pagan temple, a church and a mosque on this place. In general, nothing survived except the tower. But the Devil’s Hill is clearly a Place of Power. Touch the tower with both hands, make a wish, and it’ll surely come true. It’s desirable to touch the old bricks, not the ones they patched the holes with. According to the legend, the Devil visited this place once. He longed to marry the priest’s daughter. However, let’s not talk about sad things! Make a wish!”

Alice made a wish, touched the bricks with both hands and smiled. The director’s guardian chuckled, and White was horrified, “Damn it! Bro, just imagine, she’s got such a bad combination of planets, but do you see it? I’m trying my best to lead her away from the abyss, meanwhile, in the Place of Power, she is making a wish about…”

“About love, bro!”

“It’s time for her to think about another love!” White exclaimed angrily.

“Love is one, bro. The rest is not love. You know it yourself.”

“What matters is whom to love! Have you seen the image of that one in White?”

“You yourself are in white! It looks like you’re jealous! You’re angry, so you’re wrong!”

The director took Alice to all the sights of the town, organized an excursion to the museum of Marina Tsvetaeva, to the library of the Silver Age, to the House of Memory. Alice was greeted kindly, given interesting rare books, and she gave her own books in return. Having lunch in a tavern at the Museum of History, Alice discussed with the director the arrival of an official delegation of writers from Moscow to the 11th Bonfire in commemoration of Tsvetaeva in October. All day long, Alice was periodically called by her acquaintances who congratulated her on her birthday. After lunch, they had a trip to the cemetery.

“There are pines here, and she loved rowans. So we built a rowan bush for her! Do you like it?” the director asked Alice. There was a plaque on the metallic rowan bush with a quatrain by Tsvetaeva, which Alice once had chosen as an epigraph to her own poem. The director voiced several versions about Tsvetaeva’s burial place, because the monument was installed symbolically, and led Alice through the snowdrifts to the unknown grave, which many considered to be “the very place under the forked pine”.

The guardians moved a bit to the right. Alice took a couple of steps in their direction and stopped nearby. She was drawn there.

“Alice, ask her mentally to help you,” said the guardian of the director.

Alice addressed to Marina Tsvetaeva, not framing her thought into words, and heard in her mind a verse, “A zealous guardian of poets, save me from trouble!”

White sighed, “At least here, you’re thinking in the right direction.”

In the evening, Alice was walking alone in the historical part of the town. She found a magic bench by the bridge overlooking the church and the Tree of Wishes, on which people used to hang all sorts of things as locks, ribbons and like that, waiting for miracles. Having nothing to hang, Alice was sad.

“It’s enough to sit down on the magic bench,” White said. “Besides, you can rest a bit.”

Alice obediently sat down and began to think about something. The guardian read her thoughts and grabbed her hand, “No, no! Let’s leave this place! I’m not able to see the Man in White next to you, even a virtual one!”

Alice kept dangling her legs as if nothing had happened and had absolutely no intention of leaving the bench.

“You are a sheep!” stated White and after a pause added, “No! You are a herd of sheep!”

***

April 5, night, Elabuga, hotel in the center

Alice ordered a taxi to the airport for 4 am and sat down on the windowsill looking out into the night. Her guardian was sitting opposite. Downstairs in the restaurant, they were celebrating something. “Happy Birthday to you!” they began to sing loudly.

“So someone has birthday today,” Alice thought sadly, “just like me.” Yes, Alice was sad, because none of those to whom she had written many poems about love congratulated her. “Why then write anything at all?” flashed in her mind, but… she took her phone out of the pocket and started typing some verses pouring out of the night. As soon as she finished and saved the poem in drafts, the celebrating company went out into the street right under the Alice’s window and, to the joyful exclamations of “Happy birthday to you!”, arranged a great firework show.

Chapter 1.6. Numbers

April 6, morning

Moscow, a medical laboratory

Alice came back to Moscow. She had to attend the Elder’s event at the House of Serving to Creativity at noon.

“Alice, today is the 6th of April. You have a flight to London on the 12th. Before leaving, you were going to do what?” the guardian asked.

Alice recalled that she had planned to visit her doctor, but the doctor would ask her for the results of the current tumor markers. Alice didn’t like to go to doctors. She visited them extremely rarely, at best, with the frequency of her birthday, and received their reproachful sighs, because, given the hereditary predisposition, they demand her to come once in six months.

Before going to the Elder’s event, Alice ran into the nearest vampire department open 24/7, where she donated blood for the tumor markers and, with a sense of half-fulfilled duty to both vampires, doctors, and her earthly body, went to the House of Serving to Creativity.

White appeared in the laboratory, “Hello, Red-Eyed! I need help.”

The guardian of the lab assistant turned around. His eyes had a reddish glow indeed, but he was in a white lab coat.

“Hi, bro! Just don’t ask me for falsifications! A lot of guardians have already come, everyone had a plausible pretext. But then, it’s me to get all the hellish things on my wings from Above! For several years, I’ve been asking to transfer my ward to another department! You see, even I have got that bloody essences settled in my eyes! And just look, what’s going on around us here!”

There was an awful lot of all sorts of Dark entities, striving to get close to the coveted delicacy. A pair of guardians were holding the defense with their incessant prayer chants while the guardian of the lab assistant was scrupulously analyzing the energy of the next portion of the freshest blood for the corresponding records in the Astral Tablets.

“I’m really asking for a good purpose! You won’t be punished for it! Do you want me to sign it in the Tablets?”

“No doubts, for a good! One came here like that the other day. Almost swore on the Bible saying, ‘For a good purpose, change the blood type number!’ What difference does it make whether it’s I or IV, since a person with IV can have any type of blood transfused and won’t suffer. Thanks God, I scanned the options! His ward with his wife would be driving in a car a month later, and – bang! – crashed. Well, the wife, with the blood type I, would urgently need blood. Her husband with the same type I would think he has type IV, that doesn’t fit the type I, and would give it up. And while they would be looking for blood I, his wife would wave him from Heaven and fly Higher! So, don’t tempt me, bro! Don’t make me scan the Space of Options 100 years ahead. There is no good without bad…”

“My case is simpler, Red-Eyed. The tumor markers need to be raised up.”

“Up? What for?”

“To keep my ward on Earth.”

“Bro, I don’t get the connection.”

“If the results are left as they really are, she’ll go to the doctor at best in a year. But in six months, she’ll have to meet me, and the need to visit the doctors will disappear with her earthly body. I have to somehow push her! Do you understand? There’s no time for her to relax.”

“So how much to raise them up?”

“Well, so that she understands that something is wrong, but at the same time doesn’t get scared too much!”

Red-eyed thought for a moment, “No, bro. Sorry. I can’t. If you bring me a permission from Above, then okay. Otherwise, no.” White sighed heavily and disappeared.

***

at noon, Moscow, the Union of Writers

Alice appeared in the House of Serving to Creativity. Almost everyone was already there. Those present greeted Alice, asked her about the trip to Elabuga. Alice promised to organize a trip for a group of poets to the 11th Bonfire. The guardian of the Elder appeared, followed by the Elder with Hope. The event started. Alice sat opposite the Elder and saw Heaven instead of him. Yes, Heaven, because there was much more Heaven than Earth in the Elder. Alice wanted to keep the Elder on Earth, but didn’t know how she could help him, and was about to cry. The guardian of the Elder directed the rays of Divine Love towards the girl. Then Alice recited her poems in front of the audience and the Elder, and he praised her with the warmest words.

White, after exchanging a couple of thoughts with the Elder’s guardian, disappeared. The event came to the end. Alice accompanied the Elder to the door.

“Do as Hope tells you,” she said and with heavenly tenderness ran her hand over his hunched back.

***

not yet evening, Heavenly Office

White entered the Heavenly Office and asked for an audience with the Chief of the Council for Life and Death.

“Your permission is needed,” White said respectfully.

The Chief opened and leafed through the Tablet and Alice’s Book of Life, and sighed saying wearily, “You do know how many times she has already remained on Earth instead of coming to us.”

“Of course,” the guardian agreed.

“Don’t make me repeat the first grade lesson to you. Each human has the most favorable moment of transition. Someone is going through it, and someone leaves earlier. Your Alice has lived several lives in one. Each time, in the next most favorable moment, you tried to persuade the Council not to change her earthly body. And we agreed. You made a commitment to fulfill certain tasks. But this cannot go on indefinitely. Look at her dial of the current year and the next one…”

“I’m her guardian.”

“It doesn’t mean that you, even having our permission, will be omnipotent forever. One day you won’t be able to keep Alice on Earth. And she won’t want that either.”

“But if there is the slightest chance to save the human body, should it be missed?”

“Such saving is not always appropriate. Sometimes it’s better to let the soul go.”

“I’m asking for a permission only for one sign, and not for her life.”

“Leave Alice to herself. Let her go. If she is ready to live in the same body at the end of the next stage without intermediate rest, she won’t need signs, believe me. But if she is not ready, then no signs will help. Am I wrong?”

The audience was over. White clenched his fingers into a fist and disappeared.

***

already evening, Moscow, a glamorous place

White appeared in a glamorous place, found Glamorous at a glamorous table surrounded by glamorous people, and took him aside, “Listen, bro, there’s a small thing to be done. Leave your sinner alone for a few minutes only!”

“For a bohemian place, I hope?” Glamourous purred with a cat smile.

“The most bohemian!”

Both guardians disappeared and appeared at the door of medical laboratory. A lot of dark entities started examining Glamorous from halo to toe curiously.

“Oh, White! Why did you bring me here? It’s so not glamorous inside! I can’t stand the sight of blood! And there are too much dark ones like dirt here!”

“Listen, bro. If you want your sinner to have time to return his debts to Alice, help me. Nothing bloody is required! Go to the guardian of the lab assistant and ask him to leave with you for wherever you like, even for the roof to Carlson, or for a secret casino, choose yourself. Talk to him about this and that for 5 minutes, and you are free.”

“Is that all?” Glamorous was surprised. “Why do you need it, White?”

White answered nothing and dematerialized. Glamorous sighed, entered the laboratory and, under a plausible pretext, took Red-Eyed to a glamorous place.

***

next morning, Moscow,

oncology hospital No. 1 on Baumanskaya

Alice ran to the vampires, took the results of the donated blood and compared them with the previous ones. One indicator went down. Another one was too high. Actually, not enough to faint, but on the way to the office, Alice still went to the clinic, where her doctor had been working for many years, to make an appointment before leaving for London.

“Dr. N. left for another clinic,” the receptionist said with a smile. “Dial this number!”

Alice dialed the number and heard it said again with a smile, “Dr. N. is at a seminar abroad. Call her in May please.”

Alice was somewhat nervous, so she went to the second doctor to scan the earthly body and sleep peacefully. White tried to negotiate with the guardian of the doctor so that she told Alice she had seen something that was not yet there. But the latter, like Red-eyed in the laboratory, refused the idea.

“So can I relax?” Alice asked.

“Yes, Alice, there’s nothing new,” the doctor smiled and signed her docs.

***

evening, Moscow, “Alibi” club coffeehouse

Alice was hosting a literary event at a club coffeehouse. The hall was full. Many guests, knowing that it was her birthday, came with gifts and flowers. Alice smiled holding a competition “A smile makes everyone brighter!”. The guardians (and, fortunately, there were almost as many of them as there were people, because Alice’s guests were mostly bright) were peacefully chatting.

When all who wished to take part in the competition finished reciting their poems, Alice descended from the stage to her table behind the column, which had already become her own, to count the results of the public voting.

White appeared on the stage. He turned to the guardians present in the hall, and they fell silent, while people were chatting.

“Bros! Peace to your wards and less worries on your wings!” White said from the stage.

“And for yours, White!” the guardians said in response.

“My Alice will soon enter her Saturn period and need help. She has always helped and continues to help, as much as possible, many of the humans present in the hall.”

“You are right, bro!” the guardians nodded, remembering what Alice had done for their wards.

“Therefore, I ask each of you to help her as much as possible in hard times.”

The guardians nodded in understanding and directed rays of Light towards Alice. Alice took the stage to announce the results of the competition. White left the stage. People were silent in anticipation of the results. The guardians immersed in peaceful conversation.