Foreword
Dear friends! Before you start reading this book, let me tell you what motivated me to write it. When I was thirteen years old, I learned firsthand about allergies. With the sensation of incredible pain in the stomach, perpetually stuffy nose and swollen face could still somehow be put up with. But when the itching started, everything just faded away. I was literally tearing myself apart. It was so horrible that my mind was filled with completely wrong thoughts about my stay here on planet Earth.
After a while, I realized what foods I was reacting to, and I simply eliminated them from my diet. There were many such foods, and it was very difficult to give them up, but, remembering the scary moments, I did not hesitate for a second. It got easier, but no medication could save me from seasonal allergies. I spent a lot of money on them. It relieved the symptoms for a while, but the next day I had to do it all over again. Every summer that I loved so much was lost to me. When the grasses started blooming, I felt so suffocated that only hot chloride shots saved me. It was really scary. I was so afraid of allergy season coming on that I started thinking about moving somewhere north, someplace where the grasses don't bloom. But it was very difficult for me to make that idea come true.
So I lived like that until I was thirty, and then I began to think. Have I really had to take medication my whole life? Would I never taste the foods I loved so much and always dread the onset of summer? I didn't want to put up with that, so I started looking for alternative treatment options. And that option came up. I don't remember how or when, but it came to me. It turned out to be the same diet, and I became a vegetarian. After quite a long period of abstinence from meat I started to practice fasting and tried to eat mostly raw plant foods. The results were overwhelming. Maybe it was the attitude, maybe it was my sincere faith, but the disease receded. I literally walked in the thickets of ragweed and never ceased to be amazed at the limitless possibilities of man. But that was not all.
When my body was clean enough, I began to see such vivid dreams that when I woke up, I could not distinguish the line between them and reality. Then it became even more interesting. When I had another dream, I could consciously control it. Now, in that world, the boundaries existed only in my head, and when I realized this, I began to do incredible things, and the sensations from those experiences were much stronger than from the strongest experiences of the physical world. Then, as I gained experience, I began to experience two worlds at the same time. When dreaming, I could quietly open my eyes and find myself in the bedroom on the bed. After that I closed them and was instantly transported into my dream. Believe me, it's amazing.
After that, I decided to share my unusual experience, and like an insight, came the idea of writing a novel. Read it, ponder it, experiment with it. There are no limits, I now know this for sure.
1
Matthew stood by the window and just listened to the rain. He loved the sound of rain. As the drops crashed against the windows, he seemed to catch the smallest details of their subtle beauty. At such moments, he began to dream of a fireplace, about his fireplace.
«What could be better than the sound of rain, – he thought. – Just the crackling of the wood. Although not. The crackling of the wood and the noise of the water in any manifestation of it stand in the same place. One cannot be better than the other. Water awakens one emotion, fire another, the rustling of leaves from the blowing wind another…»
Shifting his gaze from the flickering cars outside the window, which were already consuming dusk, to the window sill, he concentrated on the drops that broke into much smaller ones as they came into contact with the hard surface.
«I wonder, – the thought suddenly flashed, – if a drop holds a huge amount of information in it, does its smallest part hold as much or less? And could one single drop carry all the information of the world's oceans. Suddenly, everything that has ever happened in the water space is encoded in it. I wonder if anyone has done the research to find out. If we take it on faith that there is a divine spark in each of us, then why can't one single drop carry all the information the ocean holds?»
Matthew ran his finger across the window pane, following the trail of flowing water.
«Yeah… if you think about it long enough, you could end up in a clinic for the mentally ill», – his mind raced, and a slight smirk appeared on his face.
A phone call brought him out of his reverie.
– For some reason I wanted to hear you specifically, – Matthew said instead of greeting.
– Hello, my friend. I'm glad you take my calls that way, – jabber a chipper voice on the other end of the line. – I'm not surprised, though. I usually bring good news with me.
– That's right, – Matthew confirmed.
– Okay, – continued Andrew. – Let's get to the point. I'm afraid to sound important, but Lord Hamilton came to my office. Lord! Think of it!
– In my opinion, such clients you have not yet had, – Matthew picked up the enthusiasm of his friend.
– Exactly. There were many. But a lord… Definitely not.
– A lord is a lord, – Matthew went on in a calmer tone. – What does he want to know?
– He said he'd like to discuss it in person.
– Discuss it where? In London? – Matthew was astonished.
– Why in London? He is here in the city. And is waiting to meet at any time that is convenient for us, – solemnly concluded Andrew.
Matthew moved away from the window and sat down in an armchair.
– At any time? Usually such serious people appoint the time and place themselves.
– What does it follow from that? – nudging his friend, Andrew hinted. – That he is very interested in us. Right?
– It seems so, – Matthew nodded. – I'm free tonight. Make an appointment for evening.
– It's evening already, – laughed into the phone.
Matthew turned his head and looked through the glass at the dark sky.
– Well, yes, indeed. I look out the window, and the fact that it is already dark, I do not notice. You call him. If it's convenient for him today, tell him we're at his service. If not, have him set a time and place.
– Wait for the call, – Andrew concluded briefly, interrupting the conversation.
The wait was not more than a minute.
– You can't imagine how happy he was, – rejoiced Andrew happily. – He said he was waiting for us in two hours at the hotel “ Wales ”.
– Interesting, – drawled Matthew thoughtfully. – A true British lord. Even here he keeps in touch with the home country, so to speak.
– I think it's much simpler than that, – said Andrew. – Have you ever been there?
– Honestly, I've never even heard of it, – Matthew admitted. – Where is it located?
– North of the city. Been there once. It's awesome. That's why I wasn't surprised that he was staying there. It's small, but it's charming. Apparently, the lord didn't want to draw the attention of the press to his presence.
– Perhaps, – Matthew agreed. – I don't need to know its location, though. Pick me up when you are ready to go.
– No problem. Come down in exactly one hour without calling. By the time we get there… I think we'll be right on time.
– Deal, – summarized Matthew instead of goodbye, and pressed the reset button.
With the phone in his hand he went back to the window to listen to the already ceasing rain.
In the silence of the room the pictures that he had been dreaming about in his dreams began to take shape in his mind. Endless forests with age-old trees enveloped him, and beckoned him to walk along their invisible paths. The trills of unfamiliar birds, the cries of monkeys and the rustling of leaves were heard so distinctly that Matthew could hardly believe in the illusory nature of these sonic entanglements. Such feelings he experienced only when he