Shaman. Book 1. Renaissance

Dmitry Shustin

I’m so far gone that it is already impossible to stop… Have you ever thought that you can be anyone other, not alike yourself today? Would you like to feel and see a little bit more than you do now? Would you like to know what it means to be truly alive?… Once there was a moment when I asked these questions to myself. Since then much time has passed, and now, having learned many interesting and surprising things, I understand that this is only the beginning, the beginning of a long journey…

Shaman. Book 1. Renaissance

Dmitry Shustin

Illustrator Viktoriia Meshcheriakova

© Dmitry Shustin, 2017

© Viktoriia Meshcheriakova, illustrations, 2017

ISBNВ 978-5-4483-0505-4

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Part 1. Awakening

A light beam of the morning sun glimmered in the window. It seemed to me that I was about to wake up, but I was still sleeping. Such a strange feeling when you can either go on dreaming or return to everyday reality, and what is more both dream and reality seem to be the same. Having rubbed my eyes, I still decided to hit the deck because it was a normal working day today and soon I had to get ready for work. Everything was as usual. Even sun, poking through the yellow curtains, appeared to be so ordinary that I could simply miss it. I hit the deck and walked aside my balcony. A new pack of cigarettes purchased in advance in the evening was waiting for me there. Having stepped out on the balcony, I saw the endless stream of cars already familiar to me, making their monotonous movement towards a new day and a new business. Suddenly I recalled when I was a child and waking up I’ve seen infield courtyard with bushes and various fruit trees in the window. I imagined how I was dreaming about living and working in the city with that endless stream of cars that I have the pleasure to watch right now. However, here we are, my dream came true but I don’t feel any mad delight and joy. It seems that now other higher and bigger dreams were the masters of my mind. If you stop for a moment and really think about the meaning of your life, a slight suspicion that your whole life is just cycling of events and objects may creep into your mind. When you strive endlessly to achieve something for gaining eventually that very happiness, you desire. However, every time you achieve a certain goal, gently beckoning happiness is slipping away again…

After looking for some time at awakening up city instead ofВ starting quickly getting ready for work, IВ suddenly sat down on aВ wooden bench, which is luckily located inВ the shady side ofВ the balcony. And IВ really had toВ get ready and leave the house as time was steadily approaching 8В am. As it later turned out, IВ would be late for good two hours. These very two hours would determine my future for many years, if not for the whole life.

Having sat on the bench, I felt a pleasant touch of wooden planks to my body. Maybe because I was born in the countryside, maybe just because of my addiction to everything alive and real, but every time I felt a real thrill from any wooden objects whether it’s furniture or even small household utensils. Easy breath of wind and the pleasant warmth of sunlight relaxed my mind and allowed me to immerse myself into my own thoughts. And these thoughts were about the fact that both today and yesterday and the day before and generally for the past couple of years for sure, I had to wake up and go to work to pay the rent and housing in order to have the place where to wake up and gain strength to go to work again… It may seem that these thoughts are like ravings of a madman, but if it is so, then at least 2/3 of the world population are madmen. Such sad fact could not help flashing through my mind. Previously such thoughts occurred to me more than once, but they also disappeared as quickly as they came, not leaving at least any significant trace in my head. It has been always so, but not to