The Island ofВ Charon. Playing Another Reality. Antoine de Saint-Exupery Award
Alexandra Kryuchkova
«THE ISLAND OF CHARON» is a philosophical thriller in the spirit of A. de Saint-Exupery. The lighthouse of that Island is the Wish Tree. Magicians fulfill dreams for a couple of lanterns, but Alice has nightmares about her own drowning, she is haunted by the shadow of the late beekeeper, and a strange child calls her mom. Can the victim and the executioner, in love with each other, unravel the secret of the Island’s owner, who lives in the Cemetery of Memories, to leave the cursed place forever?
The Island ofВ Charon
Playing Another Reality. Antoine de Saint-Exupery Award
Alexandra Kryuchkova
Translated by: Alexandra Kryuchkova
Cover illustration: Shutterstock.com
Illustrations: Pixabay.com
Type font: Serif Buratino 10 Centered
Print run: Print-on-demand
Age: 18+
© Alexandra Kryuchkova, 2022
ISBNВ 978-5-0056-3940-0
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
The ISLAND ofВ CHARON
aВ philosophical & mystical thriller
inВ the В«PLAYING ANOTHER REALITYВ» series,
the winner ofВ the following literary competitions and awards:
В«OCEAN, WIND, SAND and STARSВ»
after Antoine de Saint-Exupery
(Open Literary Club В«ResponseВ», 2021)
В«ANOTHER REALITYВ»
after Leonid and Daniil Andreev
(Creative Center В«Clouds ofВ InspirationВ», 2021)
«CASE №…» 2021
inВ the nomination inВ honor ofВ Alfred Hitchcock
(Moscow City Organization ofВ the Union ofВ Writers ofВ Russia,
together with В«Literary RepublicВ», 2021)
В«RUNNING on the WAVESВ»
after Alexander S.В Grin
(Moscow City Organization ofВ the Union ofВ Writers ofВ Russia,
the Museums ofВ A.S.В Grin inВ Feodosia and Stary Krym, 2021)
В«The BOOK ofВ the XXI
CENTURYВ»
the nomination В«WingsВ» after Antoine de Saint-Exupery
(Moscow City Organization ofВ the Union ofВ Writers ofВ Russia,
together with В«Literary RepublicВ», 2021)
ABOUT THEВ BOOK
«For lovers of non-standard! It is not „business as usual“ here. This story expands the mind. Everyone has the own island, but a look from an Other Reality at the earthly life of mere mortals is a great opportunity to pause and reflect on the present and the eternal…»
В«An amazing thriller for aВ screen adaptation! It begins with the secrets ofВ aВ mysterious island, where magicians practice Voodoo, the Wish Tree grows and the Portal toВ other worlds functions. Then the plot smoothly flows into the story ofВ aВ murder, but the identity ofВ the murderer becomes not so important inВ the end, because life after death goes on, and you choose which way yourself!В»
«The island is a temptation, an exam that everyone has to go through. The book makes you look at your own life differently, and the „second death“ in the cemetery of memories turns everything inside. I am impressed by the ending!»
«It is laconic and philosophically profound! A small wave turns into tsunami and plunges you headlong into the Ocean of the Divine Light through a story about love and death, in which the Creator and his plans on each of us win…»
«The Wish Tree is a trap for one’s sole! I wonder… what three wishes I would make if I were there. Would I be able to solve the riddle of Charon and get off this damned island?»
Preface
(«Behind the Scenes of „The Island of Charon“»)
InВ February 2014, suddenly (not byВ accident, ofВ course, there are no coincidences!) IВ found myself on the gloomy island ofВ Camotes, lost inВ the Pacific Ocean, where, as it turned out later, the real healers and magicians live.
IВ remember me thinking inВ pitch darkness under the black-book Sky with aВ billion flickering lanterns, on the shore ofВ the Ocean (really Pacific, it stepped on the shore silently and slowly swallowing it, piece byВ piece, as aВ dessert for dinner toВ the accompaniment ofВ cicadas), В«if IВ were Agatha Christie, IВ would write my strongest detective story here, and if IВ were Alfred Hitchcock, IВ would shoot my scariest thriller!В»
However, then, in 2014, only a charming poem knocked on my door («A lunar lantern is hanging on a palm tree»), further included in my «Island», which was materialized in the form of a philosophical and mystical story in… seven years. Due to the spirit of the mysterious Camotes, firmly settled in my heart, it sprouted and, gaining strength, branched out, turning into a real Tree of Wishes.
Throughout July 2021, «The Island» was boiling in my mind like a potion in an alchemist’s flask – individual ingredients were merging into a single and magical something. The boiling point reached me on the Full Moon, which happened on Athos on Friday, August 13, 2021, on the eve of the Orthodox holiday of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated in Greece from the 14
toВ the 15
ofВ August (two weeks earlier than inВ Russia). It was the midnight between Friday the 13
and Saturday the 14
that collided the Forces of Evil and Good and became fatal for the main characters of «The Island», Alice and Mark, – instead of love, on the long-awaited first date a horror irony of fate met them.
Yes, IВ started writing В«The Island ofВ CharonВ» inВ the Greek village ofВ Ouranoupoli, located on the border ofВ Orthodox Athos, inВ the house ofВ aВ beekeeper, where IВ lived inВ the summer (just since 2014, the year ofВ my acquaintance with the pagan Camotes) inВ aВ small cell overlooking the tiny island ofВ Ammouliani, the former possession ofВ the Athos monastery ofВ Vatopedi. Thus, two Islands appeared inВ the book, the one still В«ownedВ» byВ the magicians (Camotes) and the one, until recently, owned byВ the monks (Ammouliani). They create aВ Portal as aВ temptation for the souls, tearing between their Lower and Higher Selves not only during life, but also inВ the afterlife, for the souls, which sooner or later must make their final choice inВ favor ofВ the Forces ofВ Light or Darkness.
I started writing the book without knowing whether Mark would reach the Athos monks, who would meet Alice in the Other World, which way exactly the fate of my characters would be developed in the Other Reality, whether they would be able to avoid the traps of the Astral and leave the ghostly Island…
Have IВ been nursing aВ murder committed byВ the Forces ofВ Darkness inВ the territory ofВ the Forces ofВ Light for all these seven years? It sounds scary. But no, ofВ course, this is aВ mystical journey with elements ofВ philosophy and the inside-out detective.
The reason for this is my habit ofВ looking at the Earth and earthly life from the Other Reality, that is, from the Looking Glass, from the Subtle World, located beyond our existence.
«Why?» you ask. I’m interested in looking at everything here from the Outside, from the Sky, not vice versa. It has been interesting since childhood (we all come from our childhood, and mine one is associated with many deaths), so my novels in the series «Playing Another Reality» are an attempt to understand earthly life, going beyond its framework and looking at it from the «Outside», and at the same time to explore the «Outside».
Thus, inВ ordinary detectives everyone is looking for aВ murderer and sooner or later finds him, and the reason ofВ the murder is usually explained byВ the author inВ terms ofВ logic ofВ the human (!) mind, feelings, and emotions (desire for inheritance, revenge, envy, hatred, etc.).
However, inВ В«The IslandВ» the identity ofВ the murderer does not matter much after all (although, ofВ course, it will be revealed toВ the reader), and the real reason ofВ the murder is unlikely toВ be correctly established even byВ the most experienced detective, it is known only toВ the Creator.
«Why?» you ask me again. Because this story is about something else… It is about the Eternal and the Transient, the Dual Soul and the Divine Spirit, the thirst for Love and its likeness. It is about the search for the Real among phantoms and illusions. About the right of choice and predestination. About the fact that life is a constant movement forward, and about Hope that cannot be lost, even if everything is already behind… because it only seems so!
Alexandra Kryuchkova,
Honored Writer
ofВ the Moscow РЎity Organization
ofВ the Union ofВ Writers ofВ Russia,
laureate ofВ international literary awards
http://cyclowiki.org/wiki/Крючкова_Александра_Андреевна
The magazine В«Literary MoscowВ»/ В«Moskva literaturnayaВ» No. 1, 2022.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XBB2GXM
https://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/543235267/
https://ridero.ru/books/moskva_literaturnaya_1_2022/
The Little Prince’s Rose of the Universe
If it were possible toВ classify literature, then В«The Island ofВ CharonВ» byВ Alexandra Kryuchkova would be quite logical toВ put on the same shelf with В«The Little PrinceВ» byВ Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The reverent attitude toВ the miracle ofВ being and the models ofВ interconnections, built from internal causes and stretched throughout the entire Universe, look similar inВ these authors, despite the difference inВ their initial circumstances and diametrically opposite endings.
Those critics who compare the prose ofВ Alexandra Kryuchkova with Daniil Andreev are also right. The multitude ofВ the worlds and parallel universes reflected inВ his В«Rose ofВ the WorldВ» could as well include the constructions found inВ her novel В«Confessions ofВ aВ GhostВ» and inВ the story В«The Island ofВ CharonВ». The power ofВ logical dependencies, filigreed byВ Kryuchkova, makes these works no less plausible than the philosophical bestseller ofВ the famous mystic.
Alexandra Kryuchkova’s prose built an invisible bridge between two previously unconnected authors of the past. «The Little Prince» of Exupery took care of the rose, and the universal phenomenon of Daniil Andreev also turned out to be a rose, but for him it was already the «Rose of the World». Taking up the relay race of generations, Alexandra Kryuchkova invisibly and delicately takes care of the very same rose.
Vadim Shiltsyn,
member ofВ the Union ofВ Writers ofВ Russia,
