Бесплатный фрагмент - Arrow

Prologue

World of Gods

God Tem slowly walked through the ashes.

Everywhere his eyes could reach, there were scorched earth and ruins of former splendor left over from the great battle. There still were some flashes of flame, but the battle itself was long over.

It was a battle with Evil in which they were defeated.

Tem moved his feet slowly and carefully, making his way through the familiar outlines of The Library of Creation, where all the knowledge from all the worlds was stored.

But it wasn’t knowledge that bothered him.

There was only one thing on his mind right now.

The Spear of Destiny.

This was what he was looking for, making his way through the ruins of the Library of the Universe. His hands were shaking a little and the heart was cold with apprehension.

The Spear of Destiny was kept in the very center of the Library, always in the sun, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. It was tall and massive, decorated with the wondrous design of their ancient family.

This Spear was once used by their Father-Creator when he created their beautiful world. After the creation was completed, the Spear was placed in the library of the Universe as a historical relic, along with other historical items used by their Creator when creating worlds.

With a single stroke of the Spear of Destiny, a huge process could be changed or turned in the right direction and if necessary, it could be destroyed. For many centuries the Spear was kept here, taking its place of honor. No one touched it and no one used it, because there was no need for it.

Until today.

Tem heard his heart pounding in his chest.

By nature, he was sedate, cool and reasonable. But now these qualities began to change, with each step he took through the ruins of the Library, he was gradually realizing that the Spear was not there.

However, he wasn’t going to stop and believe it until he had examined every room and cleared out all the rubble.

That was his nature.

That was why he was appointed the God of achieving goals at the time.

Lack of emotions, balance, purposefulness, ability to multitask – all this helped him to weave the path of all living beings in different parts of the Universe in solving their tasks to achieve the main goal.

But now the innate qualities of composure and dispassion didn’t save him.

He was looking for the Spear of Destiny and with every minute he spent searching the ruins of the Library for it, it became more and more obvious that the Spear was missing.

Tem slowly settled down along the remains of the Library’s tall column. His hands dropped to his sides and there was no longer any strength to make any movement. The only reason he was on his feet was because there was a glimmer of hope in his heart that he could fix it with the Spear.

But now, when it turned out that there was no Spear, despair and hopelessness rolled over him in a terrible wave, pinning him to the ground, not allowing him to stand up.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, trying to get thoughts together.

What to do?! What should he do?!

“Think Tem, think!” he whispered to himself. “You’re the God of achievement. You can create a tool from any dust that helps you to achieve any goal. Your goal is to change everything. And what do you need to achieve this goal?”

A light flicker lit up the space.

“The Spear of Destiny,” the ancient lore ff the library of the Universe whispered.

“But it’s lost,” Tem said softly, looking longingly at the ruins of the magnificent Library.

“Create another path,” the ancient texts whispered.

Tem closed his eyes again.

“Create another path…”

This was what he always did.

He wasn’t just a God of achievement. He was God-antal.

There were ninety-three gods in their heavenly government of the Creator and there were only nine antal-gods. Gods who paved paths and intertwined circumstances.

Yarilo, Lelya, Velo, Delo, Tara, Mina, Tem, Vika and Tika.

There were only nine antal-gods who created paths of various kinds, paving them through time and space.

And the war broke all them up.

If they were all together, Tem wouldn’t even bother thinking about what to do or how to act. After all, each of them was essentially a Creator and could come up with a new path and a new road that did not exist until now.

But the terrible battle scattered them in different directions and from now on Tem could only rely on himself, on his own abilities and capabilities.

And his personal characteristics were that he took existing material and created a new tool from it to achieve the main goal, thereby paving a new path with these tools.

Personally, his goal was to change the course of events in their world. So that it wouldn’t be as the enemy who won the battle planned for himself.

There was no Spear of Destiny. This meant that he needed to take any available material and create another tool that could change and rewrite the future scenario in their favor.

And for this, an ordinary arrow was quite suitable for him.

Chapter 1

World of people

Russia, Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk territory

May 2019

Ilya Streltsov was busy in the huge garage of a car service station, where he had been working for several years.

Another nut was screwed in. And then another one. And another one.

And so thousands of endless nuts over these years.

It seemed to Ilya that he was slowly drying up from boredom and monotony.

Would this ever end?!

The same thing from day to day, from month to month, from year to year.

He was so tired of all this!

The worst part was that the job was great and it was a crime to grumble about it.

He was a mechanic by profession and worked as a car mechanic. He did what he could and what he liked in a high-level car service center with various modern technologies for car repair and maintenance. The salary was decent, the work schedule was convenient. Everything was just super by anyone’s standards and there wasn’t a single reason to grumble.

But he grumbled. And that made him even angrier.

He felt like an ungrateful creature, not appreciating such a favor of fate. But he couldn’t help himself.

He was tired of everything and that was that!

Good job or bad. Paid or not. He was tired!

If he had been allowed to, he would write these words in huge red letters on the high wall of the service station. But of course he wouldn’t be allowed to do that and that made him angry, too. Boredom and internal stagnation increasingly squeezed him from within and he could not even share this topic with anyone, knowing full well that no one would understand and support him in this unjustified dissatisfaction with his own life, excellent work and clear prospects for promotion.

Ilya understood all this perfectly well, but at the same time he just wanted to howl from the feeling of a closed space. It was as if he was in a Golden cage where he was pampered in every possible way, but he still knew that it was a cage and he couldn’t break free.

And it seemed like he was free to do what he wanted when he was out of work. And as if he wasn’t limited in basic capabilities. But there was a strong feeling that he was locked up. And this was expressed in the fact that he didn’t come up with any ideas about how he could diversify his life so that he wouldn’t be so bored.

He had no purpose. He had nothing to go and strive for. It is as if he stopped in place and froze in time, without developing, without getting fresh air, without having interesting events in his life.

And he just couldn’t live like this physically!

For as long as Ilya could remember, he had been striving for something since childhood. He always set himself a small goal and tried to achieve it. And it was this process that brought variety to his life, bright colors, new emotions and interesting events that filled his chest with a sense of satisfaction.

And everything went fine until he reached all his goals. When he realized all his ideas and wishes, his life just stopped. There was nothing to go further.

He was educated, as their society demanded. He found a great job and achieved complete financial stability. He bought a car, as required by his job and his lifestyle. He bought an apartment in Khabarovsk, where, in fact, he lived. Career prospects loomed ahead and this was also one of his goals – to have a job where there would be an opportunity for career advancement.

That was all.

That was the end of all his goals.

Ilya realized with horror that he had no more goals.

And the nightmare was that it didn’t even occur to him what other goals he could set for himself, so that he would have somewhere to go again, what to strive for, to return the old spark of life and enthusiasm to his soul.

And all this lousy was compounded by the fact that Ilya gradually began to realize that all his goals in the past were not his. They were all dictated by the society.

Get an education. Find a good job, buy an apartment, buy a car, make a career.

These were not his goals. He didn’t invent them.

But it just so happened that these goals of their society coincided with his interests and so he didn’t hesitate to go to them. And now, gritting his teeth with gnawing boredom and melancholy, he wondered every night whether he should have followed this conventional path. Or was it necessary to turn off somewhere at another crossroad and follow his own path, instead of trying to achieve common goals?

All these thoughts had been plaguing Ilya for days, but today seemed to be the highest point of monotony and melancholy.

“Am I so stupid and narrow-minded that I can’t come up with my own goal that will be interesting to me?!” Ilya lamented, returning to his apartment.

But he already knew the answer to his question. For some reason, he really couldn’t figure out what goal to set for himself, so that on the way to achieving it, new interesting tasks and new ideas could appear, which he would have to solve and implement, thereby filling his life with new meaning.

His family and friends told him to get married and have children – and then, they said, his life would be filled with a new meaning and a goal would appear.

But Ilya shuddered at this prospect.

He was no longer a young man, of course. Thirty-three and a half years, after all. And by the standards of their society, it was high time to get married.

But Ilya couldn’t do it.

He simply couldn’t, that’s all!

He fully agreed that with marrying and having children, he would have both a purpose and a goal in life. That’s just not the meaning of his life. And these goals wouldn’t be his own.

After marriage, everything would revolve around the life of his wife and his children and he would have to achieve their goals and solve their problems.

And he couldn’t do that to himself and his life.

Not now.

Not when he felt so bad and wanted to get out.

At first, he had to help himself and his life. Steer it somewhere normal, where it would take for itself everything that it lacks. And when it was filled to the brim, then he would be ready to share it with his wife and children, if they appear.

And while he was hungry as a dog in his heart, he wouldn’t even think about family ties. Sorry!

Ilya entered the apartment, turned on the light in the hall and looked in the mirror. A very tired and haggard face stared back at him. And this despite the fact that physically he was perfectly healthy, strong and not exhausted.

He took a deep breath.

“Oh, you…” he said to his reflection. “You said: ‘Wait, Ilya. Wait for thirty-three years and everything will change.’ So what?” Ilya spread his hands. “I’m thirty-three and a half and things haven’t got forward an inch. There were no ideas and there aren’t any. There were no plans and there are still no plans. Go on, Ilya Sergeevich.”

He grimaced in annoyance and went to the bathroom to wash his face and hands.

And why did he even believe this Internet fad that at the age of thirty-three, a higher power can attract a person to the service? According to legend, there is a sort of angelic army. In the world of people, they were conscripted at the age of eighteen and in the world of the angels, they were conscripted at the age of thirty-three. And when a person was called to the service of the angels, something changed in his life and a person started a different life, the result of which was some benefit to everyone around him.

And when Ilya first heard about this, for some reason this information fell warmly on his soul and he was looking forward when he turned thirty-three years old and the angels would take him into their service.

But here he was, thirty-three and a half and there was no change. He knew it was stupid to believe that. But it was a glimmer of hope that if he couldn’t think of a goal and a task for himself, at least the angels would do it for him.

But obviously, this was just a myth and it was time to forget about it once and for all.

Chapter 2

Tem was lying in the ravine impatiently and anxiously.

He was waiting for Semárgl.

The God of justice and judgment.

Although, Semargl – as well as Tem – lost its status after the Great Battle.

Now their places in the Pantheon of gods were taken by very different gods and from that day injustice, lack of objective judgment for which Semargl was responsible and the inability of people to achieve their goals, for which Tem was responsible were established in all the worlds.

A lot of water had flowed under the bridge since then and a lot of things had changed. Many good gods have gone over to the enemy’s side. Many were killed, many were captured and many adapted to the new order.

Tem and Semargl belonged to the last category.

Tem was hired as an Archer by the enemy – ostensibly to launch enemy’s arrows into the future in favor of the enemy. And Semargl managed to acquire the skills of an inveterate thief and swindler, earning himself an unheard-of reputation and fame, thereby gaining a place in the very Board of the enemy and in his Council.

And by day they worked for the enemy, but by night they tried to save their world. And that’s what they were both doing now.

Tem looked up at the stars anxiously. Semargl was supposed to be back soon. They needed everything to be clean, smooth and successful. After all, that night was one of the most crucial in a series of events that Tem had planned for himself.

That night Semargl was supposed to steal one of their Creator’s arrows for Tem.

After the defeat, all the valuables were taken out and hidden in the enemy’s storeroom. There were also arrows made of good and high-quality material. They were strong, pierced space and time well, embedded in the target firmly and couldn’t be damaged on impact, which allowed you to use the same arrow repeatedly, without spending time on making new ones to replace the damaged ones.

And that was the kind of arrow Semargl was stealing for Tem right now.

The silhouette of a huge beast flashed by in the distance, approaching in his direction rapidly. Tem breathed a sigh of relief. So Semargl managed to get out. But did he get the arrow?

Once Semargl took the form of a wolf, it was necessary to run away very quickly because of the danger.

A large gray wolf approached Tem and he saw a beautiful arrow glittering in its teeth. Semargl carefully placed the arrow in Tem’s hands and assumed a human appearance.

“You made it!” Tem breathed a sigh of relief.

Semargl chuckled.

“This arrow didn’t stand a chance,” he said. “It was just destined to fall into your hands. It glittered too brightly among all the arrows and stood out too much among the others. It was as if it asked to be taken from the golden quiver and put to work.”

Tem smiled.

“Well, then, I’m doubly glad to have such an arrow. So we’ll work well together.”

“I have no doubt about this,” Semargl nodded. “I feel it’ll sing in your hands.”

Tem carefully picked up the arrow, examining it from all sides. Then he gently stroked its shaft and said:

“Well, Hello! We finally met!”

Ilya fell out of his bed with a crash, struggling with the cold sweats.

“Let me go, you beast!” he yelled half asleep.

He waved his hands furiously in the darkness of his room, lying on the floor. Only when his elbow hit the nightstand he realized he was having a nightmare.

“Oh, damn it!” Ilya howled, rubbing the bruised spot, tearing his eyes and finally clawing himself out of the remnants of the nightmare.

“What was that?!” Ilya asked, trying to get to his feet. He had never had a nightmare in his life. He didn’t know what it was at all. He had only heard about this phenomenon from friends and acquaintances. But he had never experienced it himself and he had never been through it.

“What a weird stuff!” he gasped, hobbling into the kitchen to get a drink of water to clear his head. And how do people live with this all the time? It’s too maddening!

He sat down on a chair and poured a full glass with a shaking hand, he emptied it at a draught. After that, he was able to take a normal breath and remember what happened in the dream.

He clearly remembered being in a beautiful, richly decorated room. There were many other people in the room with him. Men and women, children and adults. All of them were very worthy, special, with their own talents and capabilities. And they all just seemed to be in this room.

Always.

There they were cared for, protected, fed and clothed. But they didn’t leave the room.

But today, a huge gray wolf burst into this room and began to drill into everyone with a sharp look. When his eyes fell on Ilya, the wolf immediately rushed in his direction and then, opened its huge mouth and grabbed Ilya by the torso.

This was the most terrifying moment of this dream. Ilya had never experienced such a horror.

He shouted and tried to escape from wolf’s mouth, but the wolf leaped out of the room where Ilya had always stayed and galloped somewhere in the darkness.

That’s when he woke up.

Ilya poured more water, trying to lower the fever of the nightmare with the cool liquid. His head was spinning. After all, as far as he had heard from friends, dreams had the ability to come true, or just meant something. But at the moment, he couldn’t imagine what such a dream could mean and it was unlikely that it was written in the dream books. But whatever it was, he had a strong feeling that he was pulled out of something familiar to him and carried away somewhere in the unknown.

He looked at his watch. It was 5:30 in the morning.

Dawn.

Ilya sighed in annoyance. Worst time ever. He had to get up for work soon and had no chance to sleep. He would have to toss and turn and suffer from various thoughts until the alarm rings.

“Oh, what a prank?!” Ilya grumbled, returning to the bedroom and getting into bed. “So you are already thinking how to spend a day and hold out for a night, trying to think less about the sad. And then you wake up ahead of time and your head will be filled with some stuff again.”

But despite his pessimism, he still managed to fall asleep. And when he woke up, to his surprise, he found that he was in a great mood, inner elation and high spirits.

“Well, well!” he said aloud, brushing his teeth and looking at himself in the mirror. “I didn’t expect nightmares to have such a positive effect on your state of mind,” he said with a chuckle.

Maybe such nightmares were for good? Maybe today he would finally be offered the position he had been hoping for. In recent days, there has been increasing talk that the management of their car service network was finally ready to make a decision on this issue. Maybe today was just such a day? When he would break out of the sphere of auto mechanics and enters the sphere of managers, which could diversify his life.

Other tasks and ways to solve them and different area of responsibility. He was really looking forward and hoping that the management would choose him. It wasn’t about the money. It was about the variety of life. Promotion was his last hope of finding a new goal that he would be interested in.

With these thoughts, whistling merrily, Ilya entered the car service building, where he began to work as usual.

“Hello, Streltsov!” a fellow-mechanic came up and shook his hand.

“Hello, Timofeich!” Ilya answered the handshake.

“Have you heard the latest news?” Timofeich asked.

“Nope,” Ilya grunted, trying to reach the right wrench. “What is it?”

“The new chief has already been selected and approved. It turns out that it was already a week ago. And we have just been informed of this.”

Ilya slowly got out from under the hood of the car he was working on.

“How – he was already appointed?” Ilya asked in confusion.

“Yes, that’s how he was appointed!” Timofeich threw up his hands. “It would be all right, but they say that this ghoul decided to take up savings to increase profits and reduce costs first. And you know how he plans to do it?!”

“No,” Ilya shook his head, being in some kind of stupor.

“There are rumors that he is planning to cut someone!” Timofeich blurted out indignantly. “Can you imagine? To cut someone! One of us!”

Ilya slowly picked up a rag and began wiping his hands from the engine oil carefully, looking straight ahead.

“Why are you silent, Streltsov?” Timofeich nudged him on the shoulder. “You have nothing to fear. You will definitely not be dismissed. You are a specialist of the highest category. And this ghoul is certainly not a fool to cut such specialists. They’ll dismiss one of us old men.”

Ilya turned his head.

“Why do you think you’re an old man, Timofeich?” he chuckled. “When was the last time you looked in the mirror?”

“Well, old man, not an old man, but forty-nine years is not thirty-three.”

“That’s it! I felt like a little snot!” Ilya said, raising both palms up jokingly to show that he was giving up. “But thank you for the news, Timofeich! It was unexpectedly…”

“Don’t tell me!” he gasped back.

They exchanged a few more words and parted ways. Timofeich went to the repaired car and Ilya went to the work kitchen to drink water.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Strange, why had he never noticed that the kitchen clock made any sound before? Was the kitchen so quiet that he could hear the clock ticking for the first time in his life?

He poured water and leaned against the wall. Mildly speaking, he was taken aback by the news from Timofeich. No, he wasn’t worried about the reduction. Timofeich was right – the new boss was not a fool to cut people like him. He was worried about losing the last spark of hope.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Ilya looked at his watch again. Their measured sound seemed to count down and in his particular case it seemed that this count was reversed. It was as if the explosion was only seconds away.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

How? Ilya looked at his watch questioningly. What should he do now? A person could live without a goal, but without hope a person was a living corpse.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Ilya just stared at the running second hand. For some reason, he clearly thought that the sound of the clock sounded: “Tick away. Tick away.”

Ilya moved away from the wall and went to the clock that hung opposite.

“Tick away … " muttered Ilya. “Do something”.

Ilya looked thoughtfully at the dial, peering at each symbol.

From fellow car mechanics with Ukrainian roots, he sometimes heard the word “tickay”. And that word meant “run away”.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

His eyes began to widen with a dawning suspicion.

“Tick away … Run away …”

The second hand was completing its full circle and at that moment a new sound was heard.

Tick. Tock. Bom!

Ilya’s mind was struck by a bright flash of thought. He even recoiled from his own shock. But a bright flash of fire was already filling him from the inside out, penetrating every cell. And as he filled it out, he clearly understood that this was exactly what he should do.

Bom! Bom! Bom!

Ilya began to back away slowly, backing toward the door, his eyes fixed on the clock on the wall. When the last “Bom!” sounded, Ilya turned around abruptly and walked with a confident step to the office of his immediate supervisor. Twenty minutes later, he came out with a signed letter of resignation.

Colleagues were very surprised by this turn of events, but Ilya knew for sure that this was his best decision in recent times.

He broke free at last. And he saved someone from a catastrophic cut.

“And the dream turned out to be prophetic,” Ilya thought to himself.

The gray wolf stole him from his usual space and world and in reality this was expressed in the fact that he was deprived of the prospect of a leader and he quit his usual field of activity, in which he felt as if in a closed space and had no opportunity to escape.

Indeed, people said that sometimes you need a kick to make a major decision. And such a “kick” suddenly happened in his life. And this event flickered ahead in the pitch darkness of the future. And this same event gave an extraordinary sense of freedom, choice and flight.

It didn’t matter that right now he had no idea where to look. The main thing was – the possibility to direct it somewhere around.

Chapter 3

Tem sat on the bank of the stream and carefully examined the arrow Semargl had obtained for him.

In the world of gods it looked like an arrow, but in the world of people it was a living thing.

It was a human.

And not just a human. It was a Man.

In the world of gods a male human always looked like an Arrow – a weapon that could hit a target. That is, to achieve the goal.

And a female person, that is, a Woman, in the world of gods looked like a Cross – a tool that can protect in all processes and affairs.

Therefore, if gods needed protection, they used the Cross – resorted to the power and abilities of Women. And if gods needed to hit a target or hit a goal, an Arrow was used. That is, they resorted to the strength and abilities of a Man.

And since Tem didn’t need protection, but needed to achieve the goal, Semargl stole an Arrow for him, not a Cross.

Tem gently took the arrow in his hands, carefully turning it in his fingers, examining it from all sides.

“So-o, let’s see what condition you’re in,” he said. “The wood and workmanship are excellent,” Tem said aloud. “But you are quite dusty, my friend,” he smiled, brushing gently the dust from the arrow. “It looks like you haven’t been taken out of your quiver for a long time.”

The arrow shone with a faint golden light.

“Well, that’s quite another matter,” Tem nodded with satisfaction. “Now we’ll brush the dust of time from you and you’ll shine as before.”

Tem continued to study his new acquisition.

“Hmm, your tip is quite blunt. You can’t hit a target with that edge, buddy.”

Tem fingered the arrowhead, assessing what work he would need to do to restore the arrowhead and how long it would take.

“And your plumage is damaged,” he said. “With it, you can’t fully achieve any goal. You’ll fall somewhere halfway or a little short.”

Tem continued to examine the arrow.

“You don’t have any navigation at all,” he clucked. “For some reason, you’ve lost the ability to target yourself. You can fly only if you shoot a bow at a target already set by someone. And you can’t see your own target. Hmm… it’s the problem…”

He carefully examined the arrow from all sides, millimeter by millimeter. It was important at this stage to identify all the defects and damages in order to correct everything in a timely manner, because he wouldn’t have such an opportunity later. He must be sure that the arrow wouldn’t fail him when he starts to launch it from his bow at real targets.

And of course, he needed to solve the problem with the arrow’s navigation. Without this feature, Tem wouldn’t go far. The arrow should be able to see the target itself and aim for it.

His arrow should be self-directing.

“Well, it’s not as bad as it could be,” Tem said after the initial examination. “But now I know why you weren’t used. The tip and tail are damaged and there is no self directing on the target. And without all this, an arrow is not an arrow.”

Tem sighed. This was the situation with many arrows. That is, many men were damaged, which is why they couldn’t achieve the desired goals. And if such men-arrows did reach, they could not stick firmly into the target to reach it confidently. Therefore, many men “wallowed” in the middle of the path of their lives without a chance to reach something up or achieve.

And this situation arose due to the fact that when the enemy took over their world and captured the production of arrows, it was obviously ordered to make all the arrows with a defect, so that they were short-lived, not as high-quality and accordingly, such weapons couldn’t be dangerous and most importantly, that in this state of things, more and more new arrows were required to replace the ones that failed, which allowed the enemy to earn money endlessly.

So if the arrow broke, no one repaired it. They took a new one instead. And the old one was just lying around somewhere in time and space. And in the world of people, this was reflected in the fact that men lost the ability to set tasks and goals for themselves and didn’t know how to go to them. Many men were born with a damaged tip either, so they couldn’t see and hit their target reliably. Or they were born with damaged plumage, and so they didn’t reach the target. That is, they gave up what they started.

And the lack of self-directing didn’t allow people see the target themselves and move in its direction. People without the self-directing ability could reach a target if someone showed it to them and fired an arrow at it. Such people could never begin to move in the direction of the goal by themselves.

Therefore, most people felt confident and happy only while they were studying in educational institutions. Because they were given a goal from their birth. Their parents showed it to them and then launched it with a bow. And while the arrow was given coordinates, the arrow moved from goal to goal successfully, from grade to grade, from class to class, from school to University.

But when people graduated from educational institutions, they were lost and didn’t know where to go, what to do, what goals to set. And gradually such people perished morally and spiritually, because there was no one who would tell them what to do, where to go, what to deal with and how to implement it.

And all this was due to the lack of a directing system on the target and the lack of archers who would launch these arrows manually.

And none of these people were repaired. They were left to fend for themselves and new ones were used instead. Because of this, the world of people was plunging into darkness at a catastrophic rate. After all, the tool with which they could create the future and go to it, was broken. And no one was going to change it, because everything suited the enemy well.

But it didn’t suit Tem and Semargl.

Semargl himself was the main repairman of everything and everyone. He always wanted to fix everything, not to throw it in the trash and to take a new one. Tem liked this trait of his character, since he did the same. So he wouldn’t throw away the damaged arrow. He would repair it and it would be as good as new.

And with its help, he was planning to repair everything that was related to achieving goals and solving problems. After all, he was God of achieving goals. And it was this phenomenon that was destroyed.

People didn’t know how to set goals and tasks, didn’t know how to plan and didn’t know how to work on achieving and implementing all this.

But thanks to the arrow in his hands, everything would change soon.

Ilya had already been in the house of his parents for four days, they lived in the suburbs of Khabarovsk.

He had finally retired from the service station after working there for the required two weeks and now he was breathing in a new smell of freedom and prospects with his free chest.

During these days, he noticed a few small details.

First, he began to have tiny ideas, plans, tasks and goals.

He suddenly began to see his life in a different light.

Even better. It was like seeing his life in the light. It was as if it had been dark before, but now it was a little lighter and he began to see some imperfections, flaws, shortcomings and so on. Accordingly, small ideas began to come by themselves, ideas how to improve something in the apartment, how to make it more convenient, what to repair and what to add.

And it seemed like he have seen all this every day before, but it was as if he didn’t care about his own life at all. Or there was no light that have illuminated these moments for him and he had no desire to change it.

But from the moment he wrote his resignation letter, he began to notice all the small imperfections of his life clearly. It was as if someone was gently lighting up very small targets for him and poking his nose at them.

It was a very pleasant and warm feeling. There was some special energy of care of all this domestic activity. And he literally bathed in it, unhurriedly doing all the little things that he had planned for himself.

And the second thing he noticed was – that he was now easily finishing what he had started.

In his youth, he achieved any goal easily, but over the years, this perseverance has evaporated. He had noticed a long time ago that he didn’t have the patience, or endurance, or perseverance, or interest to finish what he started and not to give up halfway. Therefore, he had accumulated a lot of things that he had started, but never finished.

But these days, he noticed how this “disease” of his was gradually receding and he was bringing any idea and business to the end. Calmly, slowly, without worrying, fully involved in the process, without feeling the desire to finish quickly what he started or jump to something new. There was an interest in absolutely everything that he did. It was as if he had small wings that helped him to keep his attention and interest on what he was doing and didn’t allow him to leave what he started halfway.

It was a very unusual experience and he really enjoyed it.

He was in his parents’ house now and it was the same here. Here too, he began to notice some nuances that he wanted to tinker at something, repair and improve. Parents couldn’t get enough of such a clear positive change in their son’s mood, despite the general concern about his future.

He’d left his job and he wasn’t looking for a new one yet. And taking advantage of the fact that it was a warm summer in Khabarovsk, he, along with his father, tried to do as much housework as possible.

At the moment, it was much more pleasant bother than thinking about his future or about a job. Sometimes he really wanted not to worry about what would happen or what might be, but just to live in the present, doing the usual pleasant chores.

But still, from time to time, he secretly thought about where his fate would turn after such an unexpected dismissal.

Chapter 4

Tem was doing a final, tentative aiming of his arrow.

He shot it strictly at the targets around him, located at a very close distance. He didn’t even use a bow. In fact, he lightly threw the arrow with his hand to check how it flew, how it hit the target and how it held on to it.

A thin, shimmering thread was tied at the base of the plumage, allowing to pull the target not allowing the arrow to be lost if it suddenly disappeared from his view. By a thread, the arrow could always be found or returned.

But at the moment, the thread was used to pull the target towards itself. And as part of the testing activities, Tem threw an arrow at an apple, a cone on a tree, a berry on a bush or a green leaf. Then the arrow hit the desired target Tem carefully began to pull the arrow towards him along with the “trophy”. And in a short time he was all covered on all sides with various fruits, berries, mushrooms, acorns, leaves and flowers.

He didn’t need any of these things, but he could use them perfectly to train his arrow, test it after the restoration work Tem have done and prepare it for longer flights and more serious purposes.

In the world of people, this was expressed in the fact that a man set small tasks and completed them. And all these goals and objectives were strictly in his space, not going outside of his home. All these goals were aimed at getting something in his life that improved his space.

When an angel or God threw an arrow, it hit a target and then they pulled this target to themselves, then in the world of people this was expressed in the fact that something appeared in a person’s life that would be useful, convenient, better and so on.

But when an angel threw an arrow, hit a target and then began to follow the thread to this goal, then in the world of people this was expressed in the fact that a person began to move to some other level, going beyond his usual life.

And as a rule, most people just pulled the goal towards themselves and didn’t go to it themselves. That is, some objects, phenomena or processes appeared in a person’s life that made a person’s life better and more convenient.

In the world of people, it often was cars, houses, clothes, money and so on. A person set a goal to have a car or a house. And this appeared in his life if a person began to pull this goal towards himself. That is, he made some effort and work. But he didn’t develop himself and didn’t move to another level of life. He just had something that made his life more comfortable and convenient.

And that’s what most people did.

But Tem’s idea was different. After all, he worked to save the world. And, sitting in one place and just pulling up goals, it would definitely not saving.

This was the sloth’s way. And going this way, the goal would never be achieved.

Of course, such a period should also be in a person’s life, but it was advisable not to sit on it for a very long time. Otherwise, all the targets around would already be shot down and there would be nothing to shoot at and the person would start to starve mentally, experiencing a strong sense of dissatisfaction. And in this situation, you need to move to another place where there are new trees, new fruits, flowers and berries. To a place where there were new goals.

But many people didn’t know this and continued to stay in the same place in their lives, realizing that life was somehow getting worse or just stalled and they couldn’t find a way out.

And all because they didn’t know that some goals need to be pulled up to themselves and some had to go to themselves. That is, to move yourself from your usual life to a new space.

It could be a job change. Changing the field of activity. Moving to another place, city or country. The study of totally new information. Getting a different profession or getting new skills. The appearance of a new exciting activity.

This was the phenomenon of setting a goal and achieving it yourself by changing your living space.

And many people knew how to do the first step. Shoot, sitting on the ground, to get what you want. But many people didn’t know how to do the second step, when they needed to get up and walk, that is, to change something in life radically.

And that was one of the reasons why people couldn’t change their world. Because they were not taught that in some situations they had to get up and move to another place, where there were new goals, reaching which they could change their lives and their world.

This was important for a man especially. Because a man was an arrow in his own right and if a man didn’t find a target to stick into and pull it to him or reach it himself, then such a man would quickly die mentally and turn into a gray, faded mass.

Therefore, it was vital for a man to set goals and tasks for himself in order to fill his space with the necessary things and to move himself and his family to new horizons.

For a woman, it was also important to set a goal, but it was not so critical for her. A woman without a goal simply didn’t develop. But a man without a goal could die.

And the enemy was well aware of this feature of men and women, so he made it so that people lost this important knowledge and a man didn’t know his root essence. That’s why a man didn’t know how to do the right thing.

And for those men who were in a normal state and were able to fly to the goal, the enemy deliberately pointed out unattainable goals or whole problems that consisted of many unsolved tasks through the media in the world of people.

The solution of one of such tasks was an achievement of a huge goal. Thus, the attention and energy of men were directed to unattainable heights or boundaries.

Political system in other countries. Food and water problems in Africa. Overpopulation in the countries of South-East Asia.

All these problems were not even in the country in which the person lived and which he could influence.

Naturally, such men, not having reached the goal, fell in the middle of the path of their lives, burned out and began to burn out mentally again. And since men didn’t know that they don’t have to fly there and aim, they just kept lying on the road of life in the hope that they would one day achieve this goal, instead of turning around and going to the goals within their reach.

And one of Tem’s plans was to solve this problem. To give people knowledge about the importance of goals, how it works, how to deal with them and how to work with them. And to do that, he needed the arrow that he was holding right now.

He needed to go on a difficult and long journey and for this he needed a strong and reliable arrow. All that he had gained in these days was not for him. All these berries and fruits were cute joys for the man who was Tem’s arrow.

In the world of people, this was expressed in the fact that men had various small improvements in the arrangement of his space.

Somewhere there was a new handle, somewhere – a new gate on the fence, there was a hose for convenient watering of garden-beds and many other different convenient little things that Tem attracted to man’s life in the process of test shootings to check how a person would cope with new goal that appeared before him.

Would it fly or fall? Would he hold it or not?

And now Tem could say with confidence that all the tests after repairing the tip and tail of the arrow were successful. The issue of arrow’s directing remained unresolved. The man still couldn’t set a task for himself if Tem didn’t show it to him and throw him at the right target.

But still, the repaired tip and plumage were enough to start moving toward a new goal.

To the goal that Tem himself would go to.

He picked up the bow and put in the arrow, carefully drawing the string to calculate the force of the shot correctly. He raised his bow to the sky and aimed at the small constellation of Tur, which visually had the shape of a bull.

“Well,” Tem said, taking a careful sight at the constellation of Tur. “Don’t let me down, buddy. Reach the target and lead me to the constellation by a thread.”

With that, Tem carefully unclenched his fingers and gently launched the arrow into the sky toward the stars he needed.

Ilya wandered around the yard looking for something to do.

He had already redone all possible things in his apartment, in his parents’ house, in the garden and in the bathhouse. In general, wherever there was enough imagination, he repaired, attached, built and changed something.

Everything.

After this he was out of ideas.

There was absolutely nowhere to apply his potential and nowhere to direct his new energy and thirst for activity.

He had a stupor again. However, this time without the overwhelming feeling of depression and hopelessness.

There was just a strong feeling that there was nothing left for him to catch. He had to look for something new. The period of total renovation and modernization of their homes was over. It was time to move on.

The only question was – where?

And now he was back to that hateful state called “I want something, but I don’t know what.”

“You’re like a girl, Streltsov,” – he grumbled, wiping the mirrors of his car in the yard. “Be glad that you can do all sorts of pleasant fuss around the house. Don’t be angry with fate and complain that you have nothing to do with your brain again.”

“Hey, neighbor! Who are you talking to?” Ilya heard a voice from the neighboring house.

Ilya waved his hand at his neighbor Valera. “Why are you hiding in the bushes?”

“I’m staking out Vaska’s car,” Valera said matter-of-factly.

“What about it?” Ilya didn’t understand.

“Oh, nothing,” Valera waved his hand. “He just went out to buy a motor home today. He wants to live like a lord while he goes fishing. So I’m waiting for this miracle car to see for myself.”

“No way!” Ilya whistled. “Vaska bought a mobile home?!”

“Well, sort of,” Valera shrugged. “It’s very small. Not the one they show in the movies, like a bus. But maybe, as usual, he was just blathering to throw dust into eyes.”

“That’s what I believe more,” Ilya grinned.

“Well, we’ll wait and see,” Valera said, moving to another place of observation.

“Don’t let the moss to grow on you,” Ilya said jokingly after him, for which a large currant flew into him.

“What a great tracker,” Ilya laughed to himself as he entered his parents’ house.

Sitting at the computer, he decided to see what’s new and interesting on the Internet.

But his thoughts were still swirling around my neighbor’s words about a mobile home.

“It’s a great thing, of course,” Ilya thought to himself. “I want to check how much it costs at least, for the sake of interest.”

The price was different, but considerable in any case. But the possibilities were endless.

“Oh, I would like to rush across the country, from Khabarovsk to Moscow, on my own motor-home!” Ilya dreamed. But let’s face it, he didn’t have enough money to buy it. In addition, traveling in this way, he needed to have at least some income, so that it is elementary to fill up the car and eat food on the way. Therefore, this option is, of course, good, but for those who have some source of income. As it is, it’s a disastrous idea.

There was no point in buying it to stay in the garage. You should travel in such a car. And you couldn’t travel in a car like this without making some money. And if you get a job to earn money, you couldn’t travel because of work.

“An endless circle,” Ilya muttered, closing the page with information about the motor-home. “First let’s find a job, earn money and then in retirement we’ll think about a motor-home.”

Ilya went to the kitchen to cut vegetables for a salad, but the thought of a motor-home seemed to bite into him.

Or he got his teeth into this idea.

But judging by the way this thought was beginning to fill his entire being, it was as if someone was biting into someone. Ilya’s teeth ached at the thought of traveling around the country.

But how to do it?! He had no money, no job, no earnings. Absolutely unrealistic desire!

But how beautiful it was!

It was a definite change in the usual way of life! To take a short break and change the usual course of “home-work-home” life, to expand its borders and make it “city-road-city” for a short time.

Oh, Ilya thought that he saw a bright star in front of him, which he really wanted to reach out and touch. God, how bright was the prospect of going around the country and seeing different cities of Russia!

He was well aware that, on the whole, it was not a particularly useful activity to roll around the country from city to city and spend money at the same time. But alongside this, he knew many cases when people moved out of their permanent place of residence and this helped them to find the right idea or new goal, or pushed them to make some changes. Going outside of your usual space has always been beneficial in one way or another. And this was a double benefit. People traveled, received new impressions, emotions and knowledge. And it also helped them to find themselves and to find a course for their life.

Ilya put the knife down with a clatter.

After all, this was what he was now puzzled about! After all, he was looking day and night for something to do or where to find a new course in his life!

So here was the solution! To go on a country tour!

With or without a motor-home. It doesn’t matter! The main thing is the essence, vector and direction.

To travel!

To go outside his usual space for a while!

Ilya had a gut feeling that he was rapidly approaching some goal. It was not clear in detail yet or formed, but he felt that his thoughts were moving in the right direction.

BANG!

And he saw the goal clearly! He needed to visit several Russian cities before going back to work!

Before going on a new round of his life, he needed to travel around the country!

Ilya even sat down on a chair of surprise and excitement.

Wow! What an idea!

It wasn’t new, of course, and many people had been doing it for a long time, but it never occurred to Ilya to do it himself. It was as if the idea was outside of his space and was somehow out of reach. Although, it would seem so easy to buy a ticket and go at least to a neighboring city and just walk in it.

But no. He always had no time or money. Although he spent much more on food than the ticket cost.

Whatever it was, such a pastime was always not for him. Either there were not enough opportunities, or there was not enough desire when these opportunities appeared, as he considered it a waste of time and money.

But now he felt different. Now when he was completely free, he took a very different view of the idea of traveling.

Now he was considering it not from the viewpoint of just having a good time, but from the viewpoint of going beyond the comfortable and familiar environment to understand and find what he would like for himself in the future.

And this was a completely different motivation. It was useful, not just an idle tour of the city’s attractions and familiarity with the historical facts of this place.

This idea had a purpose! And this purpose was to find a more global goal for a longer period of life as part of the journey.

The goal – to find a business that he would like to do in the future.

“Streltsov, you rock, man!” he praised himself.

After all, this idea led to the solution of many problems!

To decide how to travel. What funds. How long. Where to go. Where to stay. What to see in each new place. What to pay attention to in order to find his future business.

Oh-Oh-Oh! Ilya even closed his eyes with pleasure. After all, this was exactly what he needed. Solve as many small tasks as possible, gradually approaching one big goal.

His mind and hands would be busy.

It seemed to him that he was in a whole cluster of different stars, each of which had a different goal and task. And they all lay in the furtherance of one big goal – a tour of the country.

He finished the salad hastily, had a quick snack and rushed to the computer to study the prices of plane tickets, trains, buses and hotels. It was necessary to get at least some understanding of how much it could all cost.

Ilya literally disappeared into the world of calculations and analytics, figuring out how to implement his idea. There were several options in front of him and they all cost a pretty penny.

After half an hour, he had a clear understanding that he wouldn’t be able to support this idea financially. He didn’t have that much money for planes, trains and hotels. He definitely wouldn’t implement his idea in a direct and customary way.

He had to find another way.

But which one?

Chapter 5

Tem kept a close eye on behavior of his arrow, which darted around the constellation of Tur, looking for paths and ways to connect all the stars together with its thread.

Any constellation consisted of several stars standing apart from each other. These stars were different ideas and tasks that needed to be solved within a single constellation.

When an arrow hit a constellation, the person expressed this in the fact that he had an idea. Abstract, not drawn in detail, with various unclear questions and tasks.

Just one big idea.

So the person saw the constellation as a whole.

When a person began to understand the details of how to implement his idea, he began to see each star in the constellation separately and began to think about which ways he would come from one star to another. How to connect them together to get a single implemented task and achieved goal in the end.

Only when all the stars in the constellation were connected together by a single thread, only then the goal was considered achieved and fully realized.

And that very moment Tem was watching the process of how his arrow began to see how many different stars appeared in the constellation of Tur. The more asterisks, the more intermediate tasks and goals needed to be linked together.

Fortunately, each constellation had its own gravitational force and his arrow could move without Tem’s participation. All he had to do was to keep an eye on it and help it to connect the stars if the arrow couldn’t handle it on its own. And from what he could see, his arrow was in a slight panic.

The first star was shining before the arrow and the man couldn’t possibly approach it. This star was a way to travel.

The man couldn’t solve the problem of what to move on, because he didn’t have enough of means of his world to move quickly and in customary way.

“Well, that’s it, Tem,” he said to himself, rolling up his sleeves. “It’s time to get down to business. This is exactly your specialty – to create a new way to achieve the goal, if the existing paths do not fit or there is no way to follow them. And since, my friend, no path is suitable for you, I will create a new one for you from existing materials. This path will be longer and more labor-intensive, but it will be a path, not a dead end.”

With that, Tem set to work.

Ilya literally broke his head thinking about how to go on a tour of the country.

He figured out how to save money, how to eat cheap and where to live cheap as well. But it still turned out that financially it was not up to him.

Or rather, he caoul go in a couple of cities, of course, but he wouldn’t be able to travel all over the country from one end to the other.

But he wasn’t going to back down. He had already fully tasted the new life and didn’t want to give it up so easily.

“Think, think, Streltsov,” he muttered, walking in circles around the courtyard. “Well, there are no hopeless situations! There must be a solution!”

He tossed about like a caged tiger, unwilling to give up his goal. It just infuriated him that due to financial constraints, he wouldn’t be able to carry out his plan. Couldn’t he do anything without money?!

A rustle of bushes was heard from the neighbor’s side.

“Hey, neighbor!” Valera’s neighbor’s voice was heard. “Vaska finally bought a house on wheels. Come and see!”

Ilya broke away from his thoughts and went to look at the neighbor’s car.

“Well, well!” Ilya whistled. “He really did! Well done, Vaska!”

Ilya walked around a small house on wheels like a “Gazelle” (Russian car brand). Small, compact, it can be drove and parked anywhere.

“Oh, Ilyukha!” Valera sighed, standing next to him. “Not a car, but a dream.”

“Don’t tell me!” Ilya echoed admiringly, peering through the windows. “I’d like to go inside for five minutes and see how it’s going!”

“Yeah, dreaming!” Valera snorted. “Vaska is a famous cheapskate. Never gives anything to anyone.”

“I would be a cheapskate too if I had such a beauty,” Ilya said, stroking the hood of the car.

“I wonder how much does it cost.” Valera scratched his head.

“Well, let’s search in the Internet,” Ilya said, taking out his phone and entering the brand and model of the camping car in the search bar.

“Oooh, not cheap!” Valera said. “One million rubles and above.”

“Well, this one is quite new,” Ilya said. “Second-hand car is probably cheaper. And by the way, a passenger car of a well-known brand now costs about the same. Therefore, you can safely buy a camping car than an ordinary car for the same money.”

“That’s right,” Valera nodded, looking at the models of camping car. “Oh, right now I would like to leave everything and rush across the wide spread of Russia!”

“Yeah,” Ilya nodded irritably. “Vaska just opened up a wound with his car!”

““Don’t be jealous, Streltsov. You’ll earn some extra money and buy the same car for yourself.”

“No,” Ilya waved his hand. “I wouldn’t even dream of that.”

They talked a little more and then went back to their yards. But Ilya just couldn’t find a place for himself. A motor-home was just the perfect way to move for realization of his idea.

There was a car to move around and there was a place to live. Complete freedom of movement. It wasn’t linked to the time and schedule of flights.

But where could he get this motor-home?!

Sell his car, borrow the missing amount and buy a motor-home? But he really didn’t want to be independent in movement and at the same time be dependent on money debt. All the colors of a possible trip faded from the prospect of a loan immediately.

He disliked situations that weren’t in his hands! As a mechanic, who used to doing everything with his hands and controlling the process, he simply hated situations when he couldn’t influence any events.

Was the nut demolished? He changed it.

Needed to install heated seats in the car? He did it.

Needed to expand the salon? Not a question.

He used to the fact that he could implement any wish with his own hands and not depend on circumstances.

And here were some trains, planes. All this he couldn’t control, couldn’t influence in any way and couldn’t adjust to himself. And in this particular case, he couldn’t adjust the cost of tickets to his financial capabilities.

And there seemed to be a car. He could sit down and go wherever he wants. But there was still the question of overnight stays. And here, too, everything rested on the same damn money!

Ilya was simply shaken from this dependence and helplessness.

Why did he even bother with these hotel sleepovers? Any tent was enough to spend the night in any place.

And if the tent was also large enough to equip it for multi-day parking, then there would be no problems at all. However, for additional equipment, he might need a small trailer. And if there was a trailer, it could also be covered with an insulated tent and he can sleep right in it. And if he complicated, he can did even…

“Okay, stop,” Ilya said aloud. “I can make a motor-home out of a trailer!”

To take a trailer, make a frame on it, cover it with good plywood, make a bed inside and that’s it! Overnight stop ready!

Ilya even applauded himself. How could he not have guessed right away?! It was exactly as he wanted it to be! He drives his car and sleeps in his trailer-motorhome! Just perfect!

“If I can’t buy it, then I’ll create it!” he said happily.

It would take a lot of work, though, and the trip would be delayed until the trailer was built and registered, but he wasn’t in a hurry. But he now had a lot of tasks to solve and where he could put his mind.

“Oh, I’m going to show myself!” Ilya said dreamily, spreading his arms and flexing his muscles.

Then he almost ran into the house and sat down at his desk, taking out clean sheets of paper, pencils and pens.

“So, let’s write down what we might need,” he muttered, writing the title: “List of materials and tasks”.

A trailer, a metal profile that would hold everything together. Fasteners, bolts, paneling, to think about the insulation of walls, a door, a window…

Ilya’s hand just fluttered across the sheet of paper, marking all the possible points and details that needed to be taken into account and what else to think about. He could feel the tips of his fingers tingling softly and pleasantly as the energy poured into his body.

Energy of the idea, problem solving and the goal.

He looked at the list and marked what he would take and where.