Demons

By Egor Klopenko

Imagine a world exactly like ours, but one where people are ruled by their demons. There are many of them – dozens, hundreds of different demons for each and every person – and they are not always evil. Many feel closer to them than they do to other people, find them dearer, more familiar. For many, these demons replace people, become their environment, their friends, their families. And these demons have so much power over people that they are almost more real than humanity itself. They are stronger than humanity, they can do more. They control absolutely everything that happens in this world and have almost become flesh. Nearly. But only almost ... they remain unreal, they are not people. They control people, live their lives in their stead, but without them they are nothing. Otherwise, this world is the same as ours, absolutely the same – everyone recognizes himself and his life in each corresponding character. What would you do if you were a part of such a world? If you were in the grip of these demons? Would you retain your humanity? Could you escape? Could you rescue anyone? Refined to perfection, this unique prose first surprises readers and then hypnotizes them, not letting go until the very end of the book. Despite being a book with great meaning and much symbolism symbols, Demons remains extremely easy to read in one go.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Egor Klopenko is a Russian writer, an independent artist, the founder of a theater in St. Petersburg. Just 37, he has already written and published 8 of his own books and produced 3 performances based on his books, which are in high demand in Russia and several European countries. More than 150,000 people follow the author on Russian social media platforms. The author has a unique writing style, unlike those of his peers, a style that showcases his sophisticated, cutting-edge prose. All the author’s books offer an extraordinary perspective of the world around us, one that both surprises and attracts readers. However, despite being stylistically unique, all of Egor Klopenko’s books follow in the footsteps of the greatest works of Russian high-end intellectual literature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Egor Klopenko
• Release date: Oct 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463205723

Egor Klopenko

Egor Klopenko is a Russian writer, an independent artist, the founder of a theater in St. Petersburg. Just 37, he has already written and published 8 of his own books and produced 3 performances based on his books, which are in high demand in Russia and several European countries. More than 150,000 people follow the author on Russian social media platforms. The author has a unique writing style, unlike those of his peers, a style that showcases his sophisticated, cutting-edge prose. All the author’s books offer an extraordinary perspective of the world around us, one that both surprises and attracts readers. However, despite being stylistically unique, all of Egor Klopenko’s books follow in the footsteps of the greatest works of Russian high-end intellectual literature.

Book preview

Demons

2019 (с) Egor Klopenko

MORNING

#DEMON

I no longer want to live, -

sounds in my head.

And it is not just a phrase -

It is a name.

The name

Of a demon,

One of the ones watching me.

I no longer want to live.

Why do I repeat this name?

What for?

This sunny

Saturday morning,

This

Absolutely innocent day for now,

To leave your shadow

On this land —

It is still

So clean here,

Again

Clean.

I no longer want to live.

I no longer want to live.

And I've known him for a long time,

This demon,

I've known his name for so long.

For so long.

Although I used to think that it was not a name at all,

What are these words -

It's true,

These are my thoughts,

But then I knew him,

I knew

That it was just his name -

I no longer want to live.

Look, the morning is so beautiful

Light

Behind an open window

And there is nothing, nothing, nothing,

Nothing wrong about this.

Look and enjoy

This.

I no longer want to live.

While she is asleep -

Still asleep

Yet close to waking up

I open the window,

So that you could see,

To make you feel

It -

All the cleanliness of this morning

This air,

This wind,

And say

That I am happy -

As happy as never have been before

And never have thought to be.

And do not ask, do not ask: with nothing.

With nothing —

With this morning

With this sun

And with this light,

And with this air

I am happy.

But now she is waking up

It seems she is already

Waking up, —

You should leave,

Demon.

It's enough for today.

It's time to go.

We're done for today - and not a word about you

She should not

Know you

Or see you

Again.

#BEGINNING

This beautiful morning is just one among

Many,

Among many before and many after,

Yet it is now in its own right.

It is full of freedom and air,

It had the courage to begin,

It is not yet spoiled by anyone -

As it was conceived,

As it should be,

Just as the morning

That would bring all of us

Real happiness,

Deserved at last,

Promised to all of us – to humanity -

Absolute and infinite.

And maybe this is it,

It is the one -

This bright and beautiful morning,

Entirely human.

There are no demons in it,

None.

#ENCOUNTER

And I want to be the first to find you.

I want to be the first to find you

This morning.

But it seems he was waiting for you too,

Apparently.

And he opens the door before me

The demon of offense

The demon of fear

The demon of anger -

He has many faces,

This demon of yours.

I know so little of him,

But you seem so close now

To him —

He pours you tea,

You sit down at the far corner of the table

The two of you not looking at me.

And it looks like

This demon will lead you to this day.

Today.

You have decided

It seems,

Finally:

This is your demon.

Of course, I’ve seen him already,

Before,

But I hardly know him,

I saw him only from the outside.

We are acquainted, but not so close

He never spoke to me before,

And now he seems to not notice me -

He speaks

Only to you.

And he wants to be with you.

He got there first,

He rushes you

To leave.

Fear.

But I do not want this,

I do not.

I calmly tell you

I want him to leave.

Him.

Go away

From here,

Leave us

Finally,

Forever and ever.

You protect him,

You protect.

Not me – the one who speaks,

But him -

Silent in response.

You protect your fears,

Your resentments,

Your anger

From me.

You're yelling

Words that don’t seem to be your own

And not in your own voice -

Apparently, in tune with him.

I do not hear what he is whispering to you.

I can not hear it,

But I see -

I see that this is so,

And all this is taking so

Unbearably long

And at the same time,

In the same instant

You get dressed and run out,

With him by the hand,

Away.

And I see him open the door

Of your car parked under the window

And you leave.

#THEM

At first it seemed

That they do not exist,

They are nothing more than our imagination.

There are no demons,

There are only people – only people

Who are always to blame for everything

Themselves.

But now I'm not sure if there is anyone besides them here,

If there is anyone left,

Apart from them, around me

Am I not alone among them, face to face with them,

And am I one of them I myself even?

And I am certain now that there are many more of them on this Earth than people.

From something unreal,

Almost invisible.

They were able to become quite tangible in a few centuries, in several millennia.

More than tangible -

They already exist

They do exist

Along with humanity

Together with us

And even in many ways now

In our stead.

Taking advantage of us.

Demons are everywhere,

They’ve beguiled everything

They managed almost to become flesh,

And now their power in this world is vast.

Ours is naught,

We just listen to them,

Going along with them.

They are like our convoy -

An eternal convoy,

We are not free

Anymore,

Not free

At all -

We,

People,

Are under their power

All the way through.

#CLOSE

Take a closer look:

Demons

Of fear

Demons

Of vanity

Demons of gloom -

They are everywhere with us

They go together

With people

Outside

Of their homes

In the morning.

They tell people something.

And each other,

Discussing something

Peacefully together

With their companions.

And it seems

All is well,

All is well.

They open the doors of our cars.

And sit next to us.

They continue this way

With us together,

Accompanying all of us

At all times,

And saying something

Saying something

About this day

About other days

About life.

And we listen to them,

We listen,

And they listen to us -

The only ones who are

Always ready to listen to us.

We speak with them

About troubles and happiness,

They are the first with whom we share

Our feelings

And experiences,

As they were our closest,

And maybe they really are

The closest.

Those who are always near

Those who are always close.

Now none of us is alone.

#FOR US

Each of us has not just a demon or two.

There are many of them

Around us -

Shielding us from this life

From other people

From grief,

But also from happiness.

We almost do not know this true life

Because of them -

They speak for us

Think for us,

Decide for us

Live for us.

#PATIENCE

But I would like you to stay

With me,

Only with me.

And that there would be no one around us,

When we turn out the light.

There were no demons

Around -

We escaped them,

Locked in our room,

Hid from them

And it was desperately good

Desperately good

Without them,

Without them at last.

We opened the window

On the sixteenth floor -

So dangerously high for them

And safe for us.

So high that none of them could

Climb to us,

No one could climb,

And there was nothing to be afraid of.

We looked at these stars,

We looked at this city, glowing

Far away

Alone.

Both.

Together.

But who knew they were waiting somewhere at the door,

Persistently waiting

All night long,

All night long —

The demons, mine and yours,

Settled in our kitchen and are waiting.

And they know each other,

So well,

But each of them has their own purpose:

It is me

And you.

The demons are patient.

They can wait

Not letting people go

Far away,

They are always near us

Always somewhere near.

#HATE

But I'm not afraid of anyone

Of them.

I go out

Calm

But he finds me again at

The porch.

I no longer want to live

Of course, I went nowhere,

Of course,

Not too talkative.

I no longer want to live -

He follows me through this courtyard

And further, further,

Looking at my back

With tired eyes

And I feel

His look —

Stronger than

Fresh wind in my face,

and rustling leaves

Ready for this fall.

Well, why are you dragging along?

Why are you here again?

Why you?

I do not want to live any more

Like this.

I hate to.

I hate to.

#CHOICE

Let's be honest:

To us, they are already

Much closer than people.

They rarely leave us,

They are loyal to us

They are always close,

They like to talk with us,

They don't betray us

Like people do.

At least,

For the time being,

They seem to be honest with us -

Until that moment,

Until they push us into the abyss,

Until we fall into it.

Or maybe they do not push anyone there

They do it by themselves - by ourselves

Always by ourselves.

And if there is no precipice close by.

So why be afraid?

What is there to fear?

Only thanks to them

We are not alone,

Almost everyone

has left us -

They are engrossed with their demons

And passionate about them.

And ours.

Stay close

And they will be there forever.

And we talk to them

More than other people.

Yes, more

Much more.

And we often repeat their words,

Copy them.

Each of us has

Several such demons.

Not just one,

Not two -

But more,

Habitually,

A lot more.

We sometimes even

Create families

With them

And certainly never without them -

They are always

Close to us.

They live with us in these small apartments,

Endure all our hardships

Share them with us.

They are more precious to us

Then friends

More precious than

Our loved ones.

We leave our families for them,

Quit jobs,

Leave friends,

Or end lives.

And this is true -

And this is mutual

Usually.

After all, we often

Are more precious to them for some reason than

To our family,

To our friends.

What about people – they can give up on us:

Not calling, not listening,

Not wanting to be close.

They exist without us,

They do not need us,

Do not hear us, no matter how loud you cry out to them,

You won’t find them anywhere

When you need them,

When you need someone.

Only demons are close at such moments

Only our demons

They are close.

They listen to us,

They believe us,

They say what we need

To hear

So much -

Sometimes the truth, sometimes lies,

But it is exactly what we need.

People so often do not