"TALES OF GHOSTS"
about Love and Death from the Land of Mists
a collection of short stories
in the “Playing Another Reality” series
"DARK TOWER"
5. A MAGICIAN
There was nothing interesting in the news, all the same, without changes: Good was losing to Evil. The Star City had long been plunged into a sweet slumber, but Ulyana couldn’t sleep.
Of course, one can stay in the Astral World indefinitely, visualize whatever one’s heart desires, even create one’s own worlds out of foggy fabric, dreaming of a new incarnation or being nostalgic for the previous ones. However, sooner or later it will get boring, too.
Ulyana looked into another issue of «The Astral Dating» and decided to meet a creature with the nickname «Magician».
«Hello!» a pleasant voice answered. «I’m completely free until the Apocalypse! Just kidding. And what about you, Ulyana?»
«I’m drawn to go down there,» she replied, appreciating that he had guessed her name. «What’s your real name, Magician?»
«My name is a piece of yours! I’m Yan!» he laughed. «But you can call me whatever you like. Shall we take a walk? Or shall we fly? Or just sit for a talk somewhere? In an astral cafe, for example?»
There was no one else in the cafe. The ghostly waiters at the bar were discussing another gloomy report from Earth, but they greeted Yan and Ulyana with smiles and instantly visualized their ghostly menu. Yan ordered only coffee for himself to tell fortunes for Ulyana, and Ulyana ordered apple strudel with fruit tea.
«Tell me about yourself, Yan,» she asked.
«Well, what is there to tell? I’m not young. I’m already 333 incarnations old. As the main task, I used to practice white magic, transforming the evil energy into the good one. One may say I teach energy practices to earthlings. First I lived in Atlantis, after the Flood I incarnated on Easter Island, and then travelled all around the world.»
«So where are you going next time?»
«I haven’t decided yet. I’m looking for a companion via „The Astral Dating“, for a joint trip. It’s not easy to find the exact match of interests, since each soul has its own tasks. My idea is to make as many souls as possible, despite their lifetime circumstances, develop and transfer into space the maximum amount of positive energy, the energy of Good, thus increasing the potential of the Forces of Light. And what are your tasks?»
«You are a Magician! Why are you asking me?!» Ulyana smiled.
«Of course, I have full access to the Astral Tablets. However, life is more interesting if you don’t know everything to the end, isn’t it? You have a strong nostalgia for the earthly and mundane, for the body. It prevents you from moving forward. It’s desirable for you to get rid of attachments to matter and its benefits. How many times have you been incarnated? Ten, fifteen?»
«Twenty.»
«Baby! Therefore, today you have visualized the rain outside the window and wrapped yourself in a plaid, reviewing your last incarnation, haven’t you?» Yan instantly scanned Ulyana, being a true magician.
«I am as old as autumn leaves on Earth,» Ulyana sighed.
«Time exists only for people! We are outside of Time here. It’s hard to realize at first. It’s even harder to separate Time and oneself, one’s consciousness accustomed to earthly clocks. We are beings fallen out of Time. It would be more correct to say, dropped out of the Space of Time, out of its Wheel, Circle, Dial. By the way, what do you think is the difference between me and you?»
«The number of incarnations?»
«No.»
«The level of access to the Tablets?»
«No, Ulyana. The difference is the desire to go back to the Wheel of Time. Once I lost this addiction in a painful battle with… myself. Since then I have been returning consciously for the sake of generating someone else’s positive energy for the benefit of the Universe. My Self doesn’t require a return, it serves the Creator in the area that I have chosen myself, based on the skills and competencies acquired during previous incarnations. And you, like many other ghosts, are drawn to Earth due to the imbalance of your soul. You can’t come to terms with something. The inner restlessness makes you go back and walk around the Circle like a pony, or jump like a squirrel in the Wheel of Time.»
The waiter brought them coffee, strudel and tea. Ulyana sighed, Yan was a true magician and read her like a book. She dreamed of taking revenge on a friend, who, in her last incarnation in Los Angeles, took away Ulyana’s husband along with the yacht, the villa and all their bank accounts.
«You are right, Yan. But I don’t know how to get rid of this addiction! I like everything earthy, dense, bodily, tasty, from apple strudel to yachts and villas in the Bahamas.»
«Yes, I got it,» Yan smiled. «If you want, I can clean up your karma.»
«Right now?» Ulyana got surprised.
«Of course not! On Earth! During the next incarnation.»
«Of course yes! I want! So what centuries and places shall we go to?»
Yan finished his coffee and went deeper into the coffee grounds.
«Here it is!» he exclaimed finally.
«Are you kidding?!» Ulyana looked into the cup and recoiled. «In the 20th century, there are two world wars on Earth! I studied them in history class at school! I wouldn’t wish my enemy to incarnate in the epicenter of such events! Or do you suggest living on a desert island to enjoy mutual love?»
«No, I don’t!» Yan chuckled. «We’ll incarnate to work on you in order to break your addiction, and not for the pleasures of earthly love. I offer you the fate of this particular person!»
On the table in front of Ulyana, «The Guide of Fates» appeared and opened at a page with a photo of an unknown person and the description of his incarnation, as long as 97 years! As Ulyana read, she grew darker.
«Moreover, has he also been in a concentration camp?!» Ulyana exclaimed at some point.
However, Yan watched her reaction silently, just nodding his head periodically.
Having read the proposed fate to the end, Ulyana leaned back in her chair. The book disappeared.
«No, Yan,» Ulyana exhaled categorically. «What falls on the incarnation of this person, it’s unrealistic to go from Alpha and to Omega! Even in total, for all my 20 lives on Earth, I haven’t had to deal with even a tenth of what this person is going through! And no one can guarantee that I won’t break either at the very beginning or in the middle! After all, there are a lot of possible scenarios for the same incarnation, and only the best one is recorded in „The Guide of Fates“. Whoever can’t follow the best scenario, goes down back, as in computer games, to start all over again and play it exactly as many times as it takes to complete it according to the scenario written in „The Guide“! Here they are, the real circles of Hell! By the way, who would you incarnate then?»
Yan said nothing, but the same book appeared on the table again. Ulyana started reading one more incarnation story in «The Guide of Fates».
«What’s?!» she screamed in horror as she reached another fragment. «You want to incarnate to mock me?! You are a criminal, not a magician!!! You’re devil!!! Sadist!!! Executioner!!! Murderer!!! You are the incarnation of EVIL!!! You…»
Yan was still silent. Having broken reading the article, Ulyana threw «The Guide» aside, and the book obediently disappeared. With a heavy sigh, Ulyana abruptly got up from the table, putting an end to their acquaintance.
«I would like now,» she said before leaving the Magician, «to have a look at the one who has managed to live out from the beginning to the end the fate of that unfortunate person, tortured by you! He is a real martyr! Yes, he is a HOLY MAN!»
«Look at me, baby,» Yan smiled, saying goodbye. «It was me too.»
September 22, 1996