hold a dove in their palms, while the dove also has a halo. ‘The Tree of Christ’ and ‘The Tree of the Virgin Mary’ are good to pass on as inheritance in order to preserve the genealogical tree. For me, the icon of the Royal Family, Tsarina Alexandra, is important. Her name was Alice before she changed her religion for Orthodox. The Athos icon ‘The Elder’, or ‘Gerontissa’, helps old people.”
“Yes, she warns the monks on Athos about their transition to the Other World and fills the cellars with food, almost like the ‘House-Builder’, although ‘The Elder’ is depicted not sitting on the throne, but in full growth, in slippers on a ceramic floor with a jug from which oil flows.”
“Icons of Saints whose names are or were present in the family. Anna, Mary and Christ as grandmother, mother and son.”
“What about ‘The Fourth Generation’? You were the first to take it from me, and then a Londoner! Such a mysterious icon! You even asked me to call the twin monks on Athos for comments, but they refused to comment on it.”
“Yes, this icon as well. A non-canonical icon. In Italy it is called ‘Motherhood’, translated from Greek as ‘The Fourth Generation’. Three women – the Virgin Mary, her mother and grandmother – and the baby Christ. All very different in height and size, like a matryoshka, nesting doll. When I was in India, we were brought to a mountain gorge, where figures of giants of various sizes were carved into the rocks. We looked like ants against the background of even the smallest figures there. ‘The Fourth Generation’ reminds me of the legend about the 4 races of humanity, starting with the Elohim and ending with us.”
“All sorts of places you’ve been to, Alice! We plan to go to Morocco. I like to travel too!”
Suddenly… no, it was surreal! A man, a secular man, not a monk, floated past us to the Tower … in a black business suit and a white shirt with a tie … in a long unbuttoned black coat! He was holding a black umbrella-cane and a black leather briefcase. He wore a black felt hat on his head! The electronic scoreboard was still showing +32C!
“Dimitra,” I whispered, afraid to frighten the stranger off, but she jumped up from her chair, as if scalded.
“Vasilios!” Dimitra ran after the passing car, the back of which was an open area loaded with olives.
Oh curiosity! I pulled myself away from the chair and swam after the mysterious stranger, giving Dimitra the opportunity to chat with her friend. In the meantime, the stranger walked to the pier and, looking at the cloudless sky, opened his umbrella (!) as wide as I opened my eyes, and froze at the Tower, periodically glancing at his wristwatch, like people waiting for a bus. But the bus stop wasn’t there! Besides, at that hour there were no buses in Ouranoupoli! And what about an open umbrella and completely inappropriate attire for +32C? Why didn’t anyone pay attention to him?!
My phone rang.
“Ray! Save me! The man… in black… he…”
“He drops out of context, right?”
“Yes, he’s not here, or not from here!”
“Come up to him, it’s time to wake up!”
As I walked the man closer and closer, the space changed right in front of my eyes! The Mist enveloped the Tower, and it turned into a city house at a bus stop! Yes, it was raining and cold there! To my right, I noticed the typical red call-box of London!
“No!” I screamed in horror, closed my eyes and opened them on Athos, in Ouranoupoli. The Tower was still there. The man disappeared.
I returned to Nicolette’s house in a flash to catch my breath. Having grabbed the key, I went up to my top floor. I habitually opened the door and inserted the key into the automatic switch of electricity. The light turned on.
“What’s that? Where are my stuff? Who took all away? Where are the icons I has left on the second half of the bed? Where is my laptop?”
And the wardrobe! It was empty and had no trace of anyone’s presence! I rushed to the bathroom, then to the balcony. Oh no! I flew down the stairs and rang frantically at Nicolette’s doorbell. She appeared sleepy and looked around, understanding nothing.
“Where is my stuff?” I exclaimed.
Nicolette silently looked at me with a sleepy look and slammed the door. I decided to return to Dimitra. In a flash, I covered the distance to her shop and saw that it was … closed. I looked at the electronic scoreboard, it was +23C at 0:00.
I rushed to Dimitra’s house. She might not be sleeping yet. However, there was no light in. I flew inside – no one, as if the owners had left somewhere …
“Dimitra!” I screamed from impotence into the void and collapsed in despair on the porch in front of her house.
“What’s happened, darling?” suddenly came the voice of the old lady from Austria, who lived in the white-and-blue house opposite.
“You are a ghost!” I realized suddenly. “I need to see Joice!”
Tower of Ouranoupoli
“You are back, thank God!” Joice greeted me on the balcony, smiling, and I threw myself into her arms. “Well, calm down, darling! Let’s drink tea by the fireplace and recite poetry!”
Joice lit the fireplace with her eyes, visualized two cups and a teapot, invited me to sit in the chair opposite and asked,
“What kind of tea do you prefer?”
“What kind do you have?”
“Any,” Joice laughed. “Come up with your own recipe, which has never existed before, and it will instantly appear in the teapot!”
“Jasmine,” I whispered. “Everything is so unusual!”
“It’s unusual for everyone at first,” Joice encouraged me, pouring tea into ghostly cups. “How long ago did you leave for our World?”
“I don’t remember,” I sighed. “Ray said I had asked Heaven to erase my memory. Now I’m connecting to selective fragments of the Past, experiencing them as here and now. Everything is in chaos. I can’t restore the chain of events.”
“Ray, who is he?”
“Ghost of a sorcerer. He’s not allowed into Ouranoupoli, only as far as Trypiti. He said… what did he say to me? I can still do something before the 40th day that would help me at Judgement.”
“You remember everything perfectly! How many days have passed?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“How did you leave your earthly body?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You need a plan of actions. First, remember what you haven’t finished and how many days you have until the 40th. Memory is blocked by fear of pain. We the ghosts are usually drawn to Earth, to places where we felt good, or we try to complete something unfinished. Do you
