Guardian Angel. 1. 7. London

"A GUARDIAN ANGEL"
a mistical novel
by Alexandra Kryuchkova

PART I. A GUARDIAN

1.7. A DREAM of LONDON

London, April,
a rainy morning,
on the eve of the Book Fair opening,
in the hotel


Hotel lobby. The delegation of writers gathered for a city tour. A Londoner guide appeared, began to check those present on the list. White approached the guide’s guardian. The latter looked foggy, which seemed to be common to all guardians in London.

«Be healthy, Foggy!»

«Be healthy, White!»

«How is it going on here, in London?»

«No change, it’s raining! An oligarch from your country was found sunk the other day. The body of our Iron Lady is being buried on Wednesday. The rest is on schedule, it’s raining in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening and at night! Imagine, being a human, I didn’t like rains, and so, as a lesson in humility, I was sent here as a guardian!»

«It’s familiar. I didn’t like noisy cities, and now I work in Moscow. I have a task for you. Here is my Alice in the group, look over there, you see, such a small one. I need to get her to platform 9 and 3/4 today, by all means.»

«To Hogwarts for training?» Foggy asked incredulously.

«No, she shouldn’t go that far yet! Alice doesn’t even need this platform so much as…»

«A magic wand?»

«Well, I think, she won’t leave there without a magic wand. But she needs to buy a unique thing, sold exclusively in the magical gadgets shop on that platform, to turn back the Time.»

«Oh, the Time Turner!»

«Exactly! Alice has heard about the existence of the platform, but she is unaware of the fact that it exists in the earthly reality. No one thought of making a tour there. To begin with, just inform Alice that there is such a platform, and not somewhere, but right here, in London. When your guide starts talking about the sights, make him tell them also about the platform. Let him explain in details how to get there.»

«Is your Alice a storyteller, or what?»

«No, she just still believes in fairy tales.»

«I see! Okay, bro! Just wake her up at the right moment! You know, when my guide speaks for a long time, many tourists fall asleep.»


***
the tour of London sights,
daytime, rain


It was a bus tour, and Alice was happy, because of the downpour. At some point, the monotonous speech of the guide made Alice fall asleep, but she felt someone shoving her in the side, and returned to reality. The tour guide said distinctly, «By the way, does anyone need a magic wand? They are really magic and sold on platform 9 and 3/4 in London! Actually, you can go through the wall by buying a ticket to Hogwarts there. Just a warning in advance: tickets are sold exclusively in one direction, no return!»

Alice raised an eyebrow, showing both extreme surprise and indescribable joy at the same time, «How to get there?»

«To Hogwarts? Go through the wall and get on the train,» the tour guide laughed, «the platform is at Kings Cross Station.»


***
the platform 9 and 3/4,
evening, rain


Alice took the subway to Kings Cross. The modern train station looked like an airport. There were shops like Duty Free everywhere, a giant display with the departure and arrival of trains, exits to numerous platforms, constant information announcements…

Alice slowly wandered, trying to find the coveted 9 and 3/4. A policeman, standing at the ticket office with a serious look, gave a passenger information on the departure of the train. Alice came up to the policeman and said in a serious voice, «I need the platform 9 and 3/4.»

The policeman in exactly the same serious voice answered how to find it. And finally, Alice joyfully stopped. Under the coveted sign on the brick wall, there was a whole crowd with suitcases! All these people were queuing up to pass through the wall in order get to Hogwarts! Alice took a place in the tail of the queue. When her turn came, as all young wizards, she jumped up, hovering in the air for a moment above her baggage cart before passing through the wall into Another Dimension.

White smiled, «That’s what I really like about you! But you don’t need to go to Hogwarts yet, or already. Come back and turn your head to the right.»

Alice obediently landed, turned right and found a sign «Wizards Goods». She entered the shop and stopped. In front of her, there were windows with many magical items, and enchanting music was playing. Alice approached the wands and her astral body started dancing with delight. Next to her, there were a lot of the adult-looking people, like herself. They took the wands in their hands, felt them, sniffed them, tried them on energetically, making all kinds of movements in the air and even saying something.

White addressed the guardians of the present ones in the shop, «Colleagues! Free the passage to the far window! My enchantress needs the Time Turner.»

The guardians strenuously inspired their wards to leave the shop, and they headed for the exit. The guardians of the departed surrounded Alice and whispered in both her ears with a smile, «Time Turner! Time Turner! Time Turner!!!»

Spellbound, Alice came up to the farthest window in the corner and froze, looking at a strange tiny hourglass inside multiple circles, each bearing a spell about Time and Space. The clock could be rotated in different directions. The magic item was on a chain and could be used as a piece of jewelry. With bated breath, Alice asked the seller to show her a previously unknown device with the promising name Time Turner. Five minutes later, Alice bought the find and carefully hid it in her purse.

White smiled contentedly and said, «Whatever the child does getting fun, it’s okay, if…»


***
hotel, night, rain


Back at the hotel, trembling a bit, Alice took out her wand and the Time Turner, looked at both for a long time, then carefully started turning the clock’s circles to the left.

The phantom of the Man in White appeared in the room. White squeezed his eyes shut. But closing the eyes does not help the guardians at all, it’s their habit from a past life, when they were humans and saw reality exclusively with their earthly vision. White opened his eyes and said wearily, «Alice, no! Turn it more times, yet more! Not for two or three years!»

Alice continued to turn back time, then stopped, put the Time Turner on the table, took her magic wand and, whispering something completely unpleasant to her guardian’s hearing, draw some signs with it in the space. Tired, but absolutely happy, Alice fell asleep.


***
The 1st day of the Fair, hotel, morning, rain


Alice reluctantly woke up, trudging into the bathroom in a half-asleep state. Glamorous appeared on the threshold and greeted White, «So, bro, now she is going to the fair and…”, but the phrase was interrupted by a knock on the room door.

«Who else is this?» Glamorous was indignant.

White smiled, «Relax, they are ours, light ones.»

Alice came out of the bathroom and opened the door. On the threshold, there was a short, shaven-headed man with his guardian. The latter looked rather gloomy and just as gloomy said, «Hello, bros…»

Alice joyfully greeted the guest, and the guardians similarly greeted the gloomy angel.

«Bro, you are a Light one, but you look like a cloud! Who is your ward?» Glamorous asked in surprise.

«A writer.»

«Does he write badly?» Glamorous didn’t let up.

«Not badly, but… in every story he kills everyone, in a gloomy and sophisticated way. I tried to reorient him, but to no avail.»

«Listen, White, I hope the gloomy writer won’t prevent us from realizing our glamorous plan?»

Gloomy sighed sadly and sat down on the bed next to White, «He’s a killer only in stories, but he’s peaceful in life. We arrived here at tonight for the Fair. He’ll help Alice take the books to the stand. If you don’t mind, they’ll walk together in the evening London.»

Glamorous nodded. White smiled. Alice led the Writer to the table where her magical artifacts were having a rest and exclaimed in admiration, «Look! I bought myself a magic wand and the Time Turner yesterday!»

«She did it!» Glamorous purred happily.

«Moreover, she turned time back…»

«What an obedient girl! Good girl!» Glamorous praised Alice.

«No, she isn’t. She’s a sheep! She rotated it only for 2–3 years back. I can’t get the Man in White out of her mind!»

Gloomy looked at Alice perplexed.

«So do you like it? Does it work?» the Writer laughed.

«I don’t know it yet,» Alice laughed. «I did it last night. We’ll see!»

Alice showed the Writer a pile of books to be transported to the stand. The Writer shook his head grimly, but silently packed the books in his suitcase.

Glamorous sighed, «White, then our plan needs to be corrected. We’ll bump our wards tomorrow morning. Today Alice goes there with the Writer, but it’s better for her to be bumped face-to-face. Moreover, it’s not aesthetically pleasing to bump them with such suitcases! In short, I’ll find you tonight and let you know where and what time.»

«Once I used to do bumping, too,» Gloomy admitted sullenly.

«So did you succeed?» Glamorous asked.

«To no avail…»

«You know, bro, it’s all because you did it in a gloomy way!» Glamorous laughed. «We use a glamour approach!»


***
London, the Book Fair


Alice set up a stand. Having got some photos for memory, writers from the delegation remained there. Alice left the stand. She had to go around all the halls to establish business literary contacts. The fair was enormous. Alice got very tired and dizzy.

«Hey, my sheep, leave the non passed for tomorrow! Get some rest already!» White whispered to her, but Alice stubbornly kept walking until there was not a single unspoken stand left. Alice exhaled happily «Hurrah!» and sent a message to the Writer. He called her back. They met at the exit and went for a walk around the city.

Strange, but there was no rain, although the sky was full of huge clouds. They walked from Piccadilly to the Abbey. However, the latter was already closed, but a souvenir shop was open. The Writer silently looked at the souvenirs, then approached Alice, who was meditating at the Celtic cross, took her by the hand and led her to a showcase with crowns. They were very small, as a thimble.

«Buy one for yourself,» the Writer said quietly, and Alice looked at him surprised. «You got in the final of the «King of Poets’ competition. Buy and you’ll win it.»

«It’s impossible to win it!»

The Writer shook his head and stubbornly insisted, «It costs nothing. Are you so greedy? You believe in magic. Of course, you can’t put it on your head, but on a chain around your neck, why not?»

Alice surely believed in magic disbelieving the Writer’s words, but she bought the crown.

White sighed doomed and turned to Gloomy, «Why is there all of a sudden so much optimism and faith in magic in your Writer? In the Space of Options, at the moment, there is no chance for Alice to win. You’ll have to answer for his words.»

«You know, White, I’ll have already to answer for so many of his words when he comes to us from his dream that this trick with the crown compared to sophisticated murders in his books seems to me nothing at all.»

Alice and the Writer left the shop, wandered along the Thames, sat down on a bench. Alice looked at the sky through the black bare branches of the trees. The words of a future poem came to her, «There’s no Sun in the grids of the branches, just clouds…”. She shifted her gaze to the Writer, who was similarly looking at the sky, and noticed that he had scars on his arm in the place where they usually cut their veins.

The Writer said gloomy, «My guardian saved me then.»

«Cut?»

«No, I went skiing. A women cut me off, I tumbled in the sky, then hit my hand right on… They took me to the hospital. The doctor said that my guardian had saved me, as if the veins were taken away, but the cut was much deeper.»

«Really?» White asked the Writer’s guardian, and Gloomy nodded sullenly.

«Why do you always kill everyone?» Alice asked the Writer. «Maybe at the time of your birth, the planets happened to be in the Sphere of Death? Do you want me to look at your stars?»

The Writer shook his head negatively, and Gloomy commented to White, «His Mars was in the Dungeon. He grew up without a father.»

«My Alice, besides the same Mars in the Dungeon, has the Moon there as well.»

«I want to get to the Tower and Greenwich. Would you like to make me a company?» Alice asked the Writer.

«What’s there, in the Tower and Greenwich?»

«There are royal ravens in the Tower! I love them because I’m just like them. It’s also gloomy there, that’s what you love. In Greenwich, there’s the Zero Meridian, this is magic, that’s what I love. But you can dance right on it and take funny pictures, that’s what you love.»

«Okay, I’m already spellbound,» the Writer smiled sadly, «the Tower and Greenwich are almost ours.»


***
hotel, night, rain


Alice was deep asleep. Glamorous materialized in the room.

«So, White. Tomorrow Alice has to be at the entrance at 9:10. She must walk down the center line. I have already arranged with another guardian, his ward will stop mine in the same place, on the right, at the very beginning of the central line, and they’ll talk exactly as long as it takes if Alice is late. I’ll turn my ward to face those who enter, that is, to face Alice. All that is required of you is to be in the right place at the right time and make Alice not pass him by.»

«She smells your sinner a mile away. What’s next?»

«Well, what do you mean next?»

«You said you had a glamorous plan,» White grinned.

«Isn’t it glamorous? In London! After the platform 9 and 3/4! After the Time Turner! Alice must understand that this meeting is for a reason and not just like that!»

«Well, she’ll probably understand it, but it’s not the point! She owes you nothing. It’s your sinner that owes her! Moreover, Alice doesn’t want anything from him. You’d better look here, at this disgrace!»

Glamorous turned to the sleeping Alice and saw a distinct image of the Man in White instead of a halo above her head.

«Convinced? Alice sleeps dreaming a completely different… animal!»

Glamorous giggled saying, «But after the bumping, she’ll write a poem «A chance encounter’.»

«Yes, she will. That’s the problem, again it will be she to write to him, and not him to do something for her.»

Glamorous thoughtfully twisted his golden curl around his finger.

«White, I’ll inspire my sinner day and night, so that he’ll return his debts to Alice! But first, we need to show her to him so that he remembers about her. And not just show somewhere, but in glamorous London. It’ll touch his heart, you’ll see!»

White reproachfully looked at the Glamorous who was disappearing with a Cheshire cat smile and words, «It’ll work this time!»

White watched Alice’s dream with dislike and tried to dispel the image of the Man in White by blowing on him. The phantom got scattered, but reappeared a minute later.


***
the 2nd day of the Fair, morning, rain


The guardian woke Alice up in order to arrive at the fair in time. She reluctantly woke up, looked at her watch, lazily wandered into the bathroom, then went down to breakfast and headed outside. She took the subway, reached the place and merged with the huge crowd rushing to the fair entrance. Finally, Alice entered the pavilion. She pondered for a moment which way to proceed to her stand, because there were three ways in front of her, in fact, as in any fairy tale.

«Choose the central one», White whispered.

Alice obediently turned to the central line and headed deeper into the pavilion. There were many people around her, but she didn’t notice them, completely immersed in her own thoughts. White saw Glamorous waving his hand in greeting, his ward and two other men just a few steps away, on the right side, by a big stand. Alice was slowly walking into the distance and got equal to those standing on the right and calmly took the next step, not noticing anyone around.

«Alice! Stop! Right now!» Glamorous shouted. «White! She’s leaving! No, no! Stop her!»

Alice didn’t hear him and took another step. Glamorous tried to block her path, to stop her in every possible way. He called for the help of the light guardians of the passing by booklovers. They pounced on Alice from all sides, grabbing her by the astral hands and pulling her back. Suddenly, Alice stopped, as if waking up, and returned to earthly reality from the world of her dreams. An inner voice whispered to her, «Turn around! There, behind, on the right… Didn’t you feel him?»

Alice turned around. He was standing with his back to her, talking with two men at a big stand.

«Alice! Come on! Come to him!» Glamorous begged her. «Draw his attention to yourself! Please!»

Alice was lost in her thought, «Why? Why should I approach him? It’s all in the Past. He is a man from my past life, who, however, was not present in it.»

Glamorous fell before Alice on his knees, «Dear Alice, yes, you are right! He is the Man Who Was Not, but he is! And before he ends up in our Higher Light world, he should pay you back for his promises in your earthly reality! And being his guardian, I really need you both to finally part in a divine way! Well, at least, have pity on me, not on him, me!»

Alice kept wondering, «What would it change if I approach him? Nothing. I have nothing to say to him…»

A stranger talking to the Man Who Was Not noticed Alice, and she realized that she had nothing but to approach him. Alice took two steps back and stopped to the right of The Man Who Was Not. She lightly placed her right palm on his right hand. The man turned around. Alice, with a smile of Mona Lisa on her face, removed her palm from his hand and turned around to continue her way, because she had absolutely nothing to say to him. Glamorous desperately shook the astral body of his ward. White silently watched them from the side. The Man Who Was Not took a step towards Alice, took her by the hand, stopping her, and the girl reluctantly turned around, been as silent as before and with the same smile. The man said in a glamorous sing-song voice, «Hello, Alice! I’m glad to see you here.» He didn’t understand why he suddenly decided to stop her. Even those words seemed to have been spoken for him by someone else. And for some reason, he glamorously kissed her on the cheek. Alice, still with the same smile and again silently, turned around and walked away.

«Time Turner,» she stated sadly. «I’ve turned it back for somehow too much. Or does it choose the right time itself?»


***
London, the Book Fair, daytime, rain


Glamorous found Gloomy and said, «Bro, help is needed! I’m bumping my ward into Alice. Now he is going to the second floor. Alice is busy on the stand with nonsense. Let your Writer come after her and ask her to accompany him to the negotiations on the second floor as an interpreter. She won’t refuse him. And it’s good for your Writer, too.»

«What’s there, on the second floor?» as if expecting a dirty trick, Gloomy inquired suspiciously.

«There’re literary agents there, a bit over four hundred of them. You’ll have to come with Alice to the table K-33, will you?»

«I will, I don’t mind,» Gloomy agreed grimly, «but why don’t you bring your ward to the stand of Alice?»

«You don’t understand anything, Gloomy!» Glamorous said offended. «To bump them on the second floor is a non-standard move! And any non-standard move is worth a hundred standard ones!»

Talking with someone from the delegation at the stand, Alice noticed the Writer.

«Can you help me?» he asked calmly.

«Of course, tell me!»

«Did Glamorous send you here?» White asked Gloomy, and the latter nodded in response.

«On the second floor, there are literary agents. They sign up for a meeting with them six months in advance. But what if it works without? I have a few synopses and my novel translated into English. You can help me to talk with them in English.»

Alice agreed. They went up to the second floor by the escalator and entered a huge hall with endless rows of tables, each row was signed with a letter, each table had its number.

«I need K-33,» the Writer said.

They slowly made their way through the rows, found K-33, approached it and greeted the agent. Alice explained who they were, the Writer held out his papers. At that moment, Alice noticed that at the table in the next row, but with the same number 33, appeared… Alice froze in a daze, not believing her eyes. The agent K-33 asked her something, but she didn’t respond. The Writer tugged Alice by the sleeve.

«You read my book about Another Reality, aren’t you?» She sighed. «Would you like to see one of the characters?»

«I would,» the Writer smiled.

«Right in front of us. The one on the right.»

«Who is he?»

«The Man Who Was Not.»

Alice tried to move to the right, behind the column, so that the one they were talking about didn’t accidentally turn around and see her. She didn’t want to face him again, because she was not going to return to their Past even with a glance. Moreover, despite the existence of the Time Turner, life was a movement forward, not backward.

The Writer asked kidding gloomy, «Do you want me to…?»

«No!» Alice exclaimed in a whisper. «Don’t kill him, it’s no need. Let him live!»

The Writer finished his conversation with K-33 and they left the literary agents floor.


***
the Russian Bookstore, evening, rain


Alice was about to leave the fair, as a colorful girl who looked like a young man approached the stand.

«Are you from this stand?» she asked and, having received a positive nod from Alice, continued, «I represent the Russian Bookstore in London. By the way, would you like to visit us? We constantly have evenings with performances by Russian writers. We are interested in books in Russian. If you are interested, we can chat. Here is my business card.»

Alice looked at the business card and put it into her pocket. They agreed to meet the next day to discuss the transfer of the books of the delegation to the Russian Bookstore. The guest’s gaze glided over the shelves and stopped at a book. The girl took it out, open it on a random page, read a bit and asked, «Who is the author?»

«Me,» Alice replied.

«I want it. Sign it, please!»

Alice sighed, the book was dedicated to the Man Who Was Not. The guest left with her book. The Writer appeared. He told Alice that in the evening he would perform at Pushkin House. Alice asked to pass one of her books to Pushkin House. The Writer took it and they said goodbye.

Walking around London alone, Alice found herself on Piccadilly. Glamorous appeared there, «White, do you like the number 3?»

White felt what Glamorous was getting at, «I like the number 7.»

«Well, 7 is also good, no doubts. But 3 is much better than 2, right?» Glamorous purred in a sing-song way. «Bro, there’s that Russian Bookstore just two steps away from here. A presentation of another writer has just ended there. My ward is inside. Alice was invited to visit that bookstore. Take a couple of steps with her. Anyway, she has to show her up there! Let her come in now, not later! So they will bump into each other three times in one day! An evident sign for them! Agreed?»

«She doesn’t want to see him. Don’t you feel it?» White sighed. «Why force her to bump into him?»

«Well, not as a duty, but as a friend, can you help me? Of course, you don’t need this. But just imagine, you’ll get a sinful ward and come to me, and I’ll refuse you.»

White took Alice by the astral hand, «Let’s go, baby, to the bookstore. Anyway, you have to visit it.»

Alice remembered that the Russian Bookstore was right on Piccadilly. She looked at her watch, wondering whether it was still open, and took out the business card from her pocket to check the house number.

The Bookstore was huge, but every book was in English. Alice went to the far hall and found a spiral staircase to the upper floor with a signboard, «Russian books are up there!» Alice went upstairs, stopped at the rack with the books by Solzhenitsyn, Ulitskaya, Polozkova, asked herself a rhetorical question, «How to join them?», turned left and noticed… «No! No! Just not that!!!» she exclaimed mentally, instantly flew down the stairs and left the ill-fated store.


***
Tower Bridge, evening, rain


Alice had a headache. She walked slowly across Tower Bridge. Why was she drawn there when the Tower was already closed? Alice stopped in the middle of the bridge, thinking about what had happened that day. «What’s the hell? It’s unreal. Three times in one day. That’s Time Turner. What do you want to tell me, God? Do I have to deal in my Future with this man? It’s all long in the Past, and there’s absolutely nothing and cannot be now anymore.»

Standing on Tower Bridge, Alice heard some verses about a chance encounter, wrote them down and… sent them in a message to the Man Who Was Not.

The wind of chances blows hard
away from home.
A lonely verse is born at dawn
inside the album.

A friendly touch, I went away.
Don’t judge me strictly.
It hurts. It can’t be glued. I’m sad,
while you are smiling.

I’m sorry, mystical surprise
by stars unlabeled,
the breeze of destiny reprise
is paid by nothing.

You slip as ghosts into the mist.
I don’t judge strictly.
It’s cold. It’s raining. I’m sad,
while you are smiling.

I give my autographs in fog,
They don’t know,
My funny book about us
is still so sunny…

Having received no answer, Alice descended to the Tower and noticed a flickering light in one of the windows appearing and then disappearing. Alice wanted to stop a passer-by to show the strange light, but there was not a soul around. Surrealism.

Already in Covent Garden, at a table by a burning fire in a coffeehouse, Alice ordered coffee and wrote another poem.

Today, in London, it is cool
for tails of cats and dogs.
I had a flight with rains. The bridge
was sad at dreaming me.

All poets tend to fall in love
forever with some ghosts.
I passed the Tower and sank
into the fable mist.

The ravens grumble in the castle,
their throne is still a stump,
but sunny day of freedom shines
in Tablets full of rains.

So shamelessly I lose my mind,
while testing all the ways.
It’s easy to be dreamt by bridge.
Try finding a sweetheart…

White shook his head sadly, the poem was dedicated to the Man in White, whose phantom was already manifesting at the table opposite. Alice was about to send the poem to the addressee, but changed her mind and saved it in the phone’s drafts. She was very sad. The guardian hugged Alice with his wings and relieved her headache.


***
the day after the closing of the Fair,
the Tower, morning, rain


Alice and the Writer agreed to go to the Tower, and then to Greenwich. They met in the subway, reached the Tower, bought entrance tickets and, without ordering an excursion, wandered along the fortress wall, went up into the towers and down to the ravens.

Alice watched the birds and said, «When I was leaving Moscow, I wrote a poem about the Tower Ravens. Some words I didn’t quite understand. It happens that I realize the hidden meanings and connections only after a certain period of time. Imagine, I don’t even know whom I wrote that poem to, because…»

«Recite it to me!»

«The clouds left for suburbs.
The Sun takes up its post.
Let’s visit them in London —
black ravens, Tower’s hosts.

The weak ones — business people —
enjoy the foreign streams.
The truly brave ones — ravens —
fly only in the dreams.

They wear silver bracelets,
but their wings are cut.
They gladly keep the vows, —
they are the country’s guard.

The retinue for dinners
prepares fairy-tales:
or victories for England,
or graveyard on the Thames.

In vain you hide in hope
to take away la femme
across the sea… These ravens
still see as one of them —
me, raven…»

«Do they have clipped wings?» the Writer asked.

«Yes. According to a legend, the monarchy will collapse as soon as the ravens leave the Tower. They are well fed here. Each raven has its own name. They are guardians.»

«So, are you a guardian, too?»

«Perhaps, but I don’t know whose,» Alice laughed.

They entered the exhibition of the British crowns. Luxurious specimens with the names of those to whom they had once belonged were slowly moving along in the window. The Writer periodically asked Alice, «How do you like this one?»

«No, I don’t like this one,» she smiled.

«And that one?»

«Well, I like it, yes.»

The writers went to a gift shop. Unlike the Abbey, they sold big crowns there, but Alice didn’t like them. The Writer took one of them, crowned Alice and took a photo of her. Alice laughed, and the Writer said quietly, «That’s it, you are the Queen. That’s for sure now…»

In the courtyard, the Writer was taking a photo of Alice with a beefeater, a guard of the Tower, when suddenly a raven approached her.

«Look!» Alice exclaimed. «All of them are down there, but this one decided to take a walk! Aren’t we alike?»

The Writer took a photo of Alice with the raven and asked, «Did you choose exclusively black and white clothes for London on purpose?»

Alice looked at herself from head to toe and realized that indeed, everything she had taken to London was either black or white, except for the sweater, which was black and white.

«No, it just happened so…»

«Okay, Queen, let’s go to Greenwich to reset to zero, so that life sparkles with all the rainbow colors!»


***
Greenwich, daytime, the SUN!!!


The writers entered the first car of the automatic train where usual trains had the driver’s cab and took directly the front seats. The poor areas of London flashed through the windows, then a new banking one appeared, an analogue of the City, the giant glass skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. And finally, they got off at the right stop, reached the entrance to the park and slowly climbed up the hill to the Royal Observatory.

«The Sun shines in Greenwich. It’s surprisingly implausible! What is it for?» Alice thought and told the Writer about the Zero Meridian. The Writer smiled skeptically and took pictures of the sky in the grids of branches along the way.

«Do you like Gothic?» Alice asked, already knowing the answer.

«I adore it.»

«It’s very gloomy in the gothic churches, isn’t it?»

«Gloomy,» the Writer agreed. «But I’m a Catholic.»

They told each other stories from their difficult childhoods. Alice wondered, why it had been black for both of them, but she became fond of warmth and the sunshine, of everything bright and light, and the Writer became fond of gloomy places and black bare tree branches. Well, she had killed her characters in stories being young, too, but afterwards, on the contrary, tried to save everyone.

Alice ran up to the Zero Meridian, jumped on it for joy and stretched out her hands to the sky, in which the Sun was shining. The Writer took a photo of her standing on both sides of the Meridian line. Then Alice started dancing and even purring something to herself.

«What are you singing there?»

«A poem, it came to me on the platform 9 and ;.

Don’t turn your back to magic, you,
a hostage of illusion,
been frighten by a stone wall.
The truth is in diffusion!

The fog is clinging to the Thames,
in vain you draw a circle!
I have a magic wand in hand
at 9 plus more three quarters!

The judges in a mirror web
are chatting with the British.
They caught a lion with a girl
at dancing over Greenwich!»

«You are so funny!» the Writer smiled.

«Come here, reset your life, come on! Let everything black leave us, and life will start from scratch. Make a wish!»

«Will it come true?»

«I was here ten years ago. In April, just like now. In autumn, my life changed completely. So much that I could hardly believe it. For the better, I mean. Although at first, it was hard to turn around so radically. But after it, a new and happy chapter of my Book of Life began! I believe that even now I’m here for a reason, and you too.»

The Writer took a place at the Zero Meridian. Alice photographed him. White looked at her with sadness, because Alice wasn’t completely reset, since the image of the Man in White was steadily present in her mind.

«So, in autumn, you say? A new and happy chapter?» the Writer asked with a smile.

«Definitely! In autumn!»

White sighed, and Gloomy asked, «Bro, is it not true about autumn?»

«Everything is true, including autumn. But Alice has to reach autumn passing through her summer. I would even say, she won’t have summer this year at all. That’s it, bro.»

They both looked at Alice with sadness. So joyful, beautiful, happy, not knowing anything bad about the upcoming, she took the Writer by the hand, and…

They explored the museum of the Royal Astronomers, slowly walking around the exhibits — telescopes, various mechanisms, similar to watches, scrolls — and step into a dark room, where Alice discovered a giant globe and led the Writer to it.

«Look! It’s our globe, just the size I used to see it during my meditations. Imagine, in the sky, there are big monks the guardians of our balloon, the Earth. They stand next to it holding their palms, like we do by a fire warming our hands. The guardians are as big as you and me compared to this globe. Take a photo of me with it!»

After taking photos, Alice came to the table with some objects painted on it — inkwells, pencils, pens and a sign, «Touch me to learn more.» Alice touched it and immediately screamed in horror. Huge, fat, furry ones with a lot of paws quickly ran over the table surface.

«What’s up?» The Writer was surprised.

«This is a bad table! A dark one!»

The Writer touched the table, «Alice, don’t be afraid. This is a touchscreen computer. After these «monsters’, a text with a story appears on the table, and you can turn the pages to read further.»

White led Alice away from the table, «Just a sign! If you go through the tunnel of Saturn, you’ll reach a happy autumn.»

The writers left the dark room. At the exit from the museum, Alice noticed an inconspicuous staircase leading somewhere upwards, and with a glance suggested going up. Having enjoyed the next museum rooms on the upper floor, which, apparently, few people got to, the writers went out to the roof and walked along a narrow passage to the door located in the dome, where the biggest telescope was kept.

«Wow!» exclaimed Alice. There was no one else and nothing but a huge device in the center of the round room there. Some meditative music was playing. The writers were fascinated by the telescope and walked it all around. Alice crossed the line, marked by a chain, and climbed up the stairs to the very dome. The Writer took photos of her.

Glamorous appeared, «White, I’m ready to voice the plan!»

Gloomy cast a sullen glance at Glamorous. White grinned, «Wow, bro! Show must go on… Did you suddenly realize that 7 is much better than 3?!»

«Don’t be ironic!» continued the inspired Glamorous. «I realized that in order to return to that situation, they must be bumped into each other in June, not in April. They met in June! And to make it really magic, Alice has to gain weight somewhere!»

«What do you mean, weight and somewhere? Don’t you like her shapes?»

«Well, my ward loves everything glamorous and exclusive! I thought about it and decided the following. Alice takes part in the imperial «Heritage’ competition, the results will be announced in early May. I’ll take her to the list of finalists. Well, this year she’ll be a finalist, next year — the winner! And you’ll make her win in the royal competition, the «King of Poets’, where she is already in the list of finalists, and the results will be announced at the end of May! Everything converges, White, it all sums up!»

White glanced at Gloomy and asked, «Are you both in cahoots? One tries to put the crown on her head. The other demands to become the Queen. Gloomy, why are you silent?»

Gloomy was getting darker, «No, we didn’t agree. My ward was just joking.»

«A good joke!» Glamorous exclaimed cheerfully. «There’s a bit of a joke in every joke, and the rest is pure truth! So, Gloomy, since it was your writer’s idea, then you’ll make her the Queen of poets!»

«Unreal,» Gloomy sighed.

«Glamorous, I don’t understand it yet. Why should Alice win?» White asked. «Believe it or not, she doesn’t need it anymore. She proved everything to everyone a long time ago. Perhaps Alice will refuse even to participate in the battle for the crown.»

«What do you mean, why?! First, there is never extra victory in life. Secondly, she has to catch my sinner to the quick! He promised once that he would crown her. Well, conditionally, but promised. He did nothing for it, I agree. And now, so many years later — bang! — she makes it herself. With our help, of course. But for him it looks like herself! Imagine, what he would feel! He’ll want to meet her! You’ll see! And then, in June…»

«Glamorous, there is no such option in the Space of Options. Dot. She can’t win.»

«White, nothing is impossible! If there’s no such option yet, then it needs to be imagined! As soon as we come up with it, it’ll immediately appear there, and it’s always possible to realize any option appeared in the Space as an image! In fact, we’ve just come up with it!»

«You’ve done it, not us. So realize it yourself. It’s your ward who has debts to pay, not Alice. I’ll return to Moscow and deal with issues of her health, not creativity. Don’t you care how the next period of Saturn will end for her? Alice’s chances of remaining on Earth are nil at the moment. In my opinion, Glamorous, it’s exactly to your advantage to keep her in their human world, isn’t it?»

Glamorous fell silent. Gloomy got even darker. They all looked at Alice. Beautiful, happy, completely unaware of how her fate was being decided in another dimension, she stood at the top of the stairs under the very dome of the Royal Observatory smiling at the Writer.

«Okay,» Gloomy sighed, «we have to answer for our words, I agree. I’ll do my best.»

«So will I, White. I’ll help Alice, too! Indeed!»

White was silent. Alice came down the stairs. The writers left the Royal Observatory and returned to London.


***
the night before returning to Moscow,
London, hotel, black clouds, rain


Alice was sitting on the windowsill in the hotel. Suddenly, she heard words pouring from somewhere and she habitually wrote them down and saves on her phone.

A blind man got insight at once —
all people are so strange!
Don’t drink the Truth from human face,
the well is in the soul!

Let Hogwarts be — in reading signs
for Gucci — number 1.
Umbrellas, Londoners’ must have,
sneezed on the clouds twice!

The grass demands the rains as much
as God — the baptized ones.
Ideas of the Space displaced
will soon explode my mind!

I’m led away from you by guards
to payment for the sins.
It’s just 3 minutes to the ward
for those who went mad.