Maze D'Or

Klaus took a deep breath. Amanda sat across from him and stared into his dark glasses, in which her reflection froze.
“Purple-red flashes against the backdrop of the night sky. You can't get used to them, but you can live with them. On one of those evenings, a local girl came to our camp. She was about seventeen years old, but she talked and behaved like a wise adult woman. Over her clothes she was wearing a huge white T-shirt with a picture of a paper target shifted to the heart area. Her hair was tied in a ponytail with a tight knot. Her eyebrows were straight, and wrinkles were clearly visible on her forehead. She asked someone to come to her house and pick up her wounded grandfather. There were no vehicles available in the camp, so I offered my help. We set off to pick up the old man. Eri and her daughter, me and the target girl. In the rear-view mirror, I stared intently at the girl's face. Strangely, there was absolutely no fear, no doubt, no reproach in her eyes. The only thing that revealed her excitement was a request to drive more carefully. After the bombing, the road was full of potholes. Finally, we got to the place. A toddler ran out of the house and headed towards us. That's when something happened that was beyond description. The girl smiled at her little brother, took him in her arms and carried him into the house. I've never seen such a smile before that day. There was everything in it: love, tenderness, purity, sadness, care, mercy, the whole universe. I had a lump in my throat then. I could barely hold back my tears. Then we went into the house. Eri was doing a dressing. Her daughter was playing with the kid. I helped the girl pack the things for the road. The old man was put in the car. The girl said that, unfortunately, she could not go with us. She needed to go to the town bridge. Her friends were waiting for her there.

p. 144-145

“Somewhere high up, perhaps right in the sky, there is a giant disk — a Golden Maze. People used to call it Maze D'Or. It is a source of eternal inspiration, light and harmony. The abode of the ancient muses, the haven of poets', musicians', artists' and creators' souls. Saturated with the powerful energy of the Labyrinth, its inhabitants create works of art day by day, they come up with new mathematical formulas, invent amazing mechanisms. There are a lot of creations, and with each ascended soul their number only increases. When ideas, thoughts, discoveries begin to overflow the Labyrinth, it erupts. And as magma bursts out of a volcano crater, so Golden Cubes fly out of the centre of the Maze. Ideas and thoughts, reflections and discoveries, geniuses and talents of the inhabitants of the Maze D'Or pour out like rain streams on the earth.”
“Yes, yes, that's what I was telling you about, Amanda,” Gottfried shifted in his chair.
Ernst continued, “Golden Cubes are scattered all over the earth. And they carry talents to people. It happens that someone finds their talent by accident. But more often it happens that a person is looking for his destiny all his life. Such people are called the seekers. Klaus sincerely believed that he was a true seeker. He tried himself in science, in music, in photography, in painting, meditation, hypnosis. And he always moved in the direction he was most afraid of.”

p. 224-225

“Klaus carefully circled each letter in the phrase THE END, closed the blue notebook and leaned back in his chair. A faithful dog was lying at his feet.

“Keep cool, Guy, I'm not giving you away. Not to the gardener, no matter how kind he is. One can't abandon friends, Guy.”

p. 266-267