Chapter 10: Alley of sculptures
Goldy stationed his friend in the house next door, then pointed a finger at his own.
- If you need me, yell from the balcony or the window, or just call me for help like in scary movies.
- Fuck you.
- And stop sleeping until tonight.
- It's in the distant past.
- The fridge is full of food and candy in case you get the urge to munch.
- Okay, can I go now? - Cal hinted, holding the handle of the door ajar.
For the first time in a long time Cal felt excited, positive energy, and he filled his lungs with oxygen to prove it. The vigor of his mind and body did not suggest sleep, despite the busyness of the day. The wall lamp attached above the bed cast a soft light that did not strain his eyesight and allowed Cal to scrolling at his notebook.
Page #6
It is possible to arrive in endless reflections and dreams, which do not change the reality of a person for the better, and on the contrary take away precious time. The decision to be taken by a person at the moment of confusion on the path of life, should cover the rest of his life. And should include desire, strategy and action.
The desire must be so strong that for the sake of what is desired, a person will be willing to sacrifice or give up something that is really dear to him.
Strategy and action are links in a chain that cannot be separated from each other.
Page #7
The art of speaking concisely and meaningfully is a necessity for one who desires the growth of his personality. A person who knows how to express a thought properly will be useful to himself and others. Proper speech not seldom does more good than is expected of it. The spoken word takes control of the body, forcing it to take action. Control of speech and the proper use of this gift, promises a person of joy and prosperity. He who has been able to curb his tongue has won a great victory.
Page #8
Thought is influenced by action! Any action, be it even a wave of the hand, has its reflection in the minds of people. First of all, beautiful behavior strengthens a man, and only then serves as evidence of his nobility. The ability to behave correctly should not be artificial, the kind that must be constantly monitored and corrected. Behavior and speech speak volumes about who a person is, indicating his intellectual and even social level.
Page #9
Man, without noticing it, is always in a state of accepting information disguised in its multiple forms. Everything that man sees, hears, feels, has an influence on him and settles deeply in him through multiple repetitions. The challenge is to consciously choose the flow of this information. Sight, hearing and body are like rivers flowing into the sea. If the water of one of the rivers is dirty, will the sea like it? But even if you find the sea black with mud and debris, clean rivers will ensure a quick cleansing.
Page #10
One of the best ways to strengthen the good in oneself is to share it. By transmitting knowledge, one first of all masters it himself at the moment of transmission, opening the doors of understanding wider and wider each time. When it comes to property, one should be generous. At the same time, one should know the measure in each particular case, in order to benefit and avoid harm, especially for the one to whom the help is given. Like any business, the result of which should be a success, to share should be without malice, relying on reason.
Feeling the power of what he had read, Cal closed his notebook and went to the balcony to breathe, to think. The moon, the stars, the air he breathed in, everything around him, down to the wooden planks on this night, was perfect. Cal stood still with his eyes closed, as if he could see everything, better than if his eyes were open, better than if the sun were shining on a clear day. He felt the distance, the scale of the path between him and the nearest celestial body, if the moon was the target, he asked himself, could anyone travel such a huge distance, was it possible in principle? He felt neither fear nor haste, his body obeyed his mind. This marked the beginning of an unknown path, the result of which would be success, and on which he had not dared to set foot for a long time.
Not by the clock, but by the rays of the sun, the lover of all kinds of dreams, who had managed to sleep no more than five hours, was counting the coming of the new day. The body had adapted to the small amount of sleep, while replenishing enough energy. The knock on the unlocked door came after a while.
- All doors are open to you, especially the doors of your own buildings. Come on in and make yourself comfortable, but first get a drink.
- I came to wake you up, and you're already awake, as it turns out. Early rising has been known to make a lot of great men great. So quit playing fish out of water and lying there helplessly.
- Help, help, help. not even your whining can ruin such a beautiful morning. What's our hurry? What's a man in such a hurry in such comfortable conditions?
- No. I was expecting to see you asleep and then heroically wake you up with a lecture on the benefits of rising early. But after you disrupted my plans, something went wrong. - Goldy explained his eagerness by pressing his lips together and raising one of his eyebrows.
- In that case, there's no reason to stay in bed any longer than you want to stay in bed.
- I think we can get on with breakfast, we didn't eat much last night. - Goldy stroked his belly.
- I'm always going to be half-hungry here, the sight of all this food doesn't inspire confidence.
- That's what I'm talking about, bro, stop thinking like that. You gotta try everything, go everywhere, meet everybody. If you don't like the way a dish looks, fine! But how do you know you won't like the way it tastes? I don't understand why you're rejecting it, it's not hard to taste it.
- Bro, your record's stuck again. I don't want to taste something that doesn't look appetizing to me. I heard you a long time ago, when your mission to introduce your concepts into my brain was just beginning, so relax, it's cool.
After no more than an hour, the guys were rushing towards one of the most popular places on the island, called the sculpture alley. The path, about ten meters wide and several kilometers long, was dotted on both sides with plaster figures, small and large, beautiful and not so beautiful. Most of them looked like pieces of plaster carelessly molded together, rather than revealing a work of art to the eye. And so it was. According to legend, a man once sailed to the island and settled on this street. He had no children and no wife. On clear evenings, he'd leave the house, and by moonlight, he'd mold himself a couple. Maybe he was crazy, or maybe he was just painfully lonely. He didn't live there long, but after his sudden disappearance, there were ten statuettes of the same size, standing in a row and all looking in the same direction. Thus was born this street where Goldy had planned to bring Cal the night before.
- I certainly didn't expect to see a place like this, but can the adults make something? - Cal asked as he passed the kids and their parents helping them with the molding process.
- A little later, before we eat breakfast.
The guys walked about two hundred meters, then Goldy gestured with his hand to go inside a small, cozy restaurant made entirely of wood. There were only ten tables with four seats each. There was no background music, no TV hanging on the wall, and people were talking in half voices, practically whispers.
- This place is perfect. - Cal said as he sat down.
- I know where to take you, it's just the way you like it bro, it's low volume, it's not crowded, they don't sell alcohol, and there's practically nothing on the menu. It's a specialty of the restaurant, there is only one dish and one drink in the menu - tea, cooked according to a special recipe, the menu itself, the paper on which are written the names of dishes and so on does not exist, don't worry, I'm sure you'll like it.
- Well, what's the dish I'm going to have?
- It has no name, all those who come here not for the first time looking at the girl in a long dress that stands in front of you, just nod their heads and so she takes the order from the visitors. Newcomers usually wait for a waiter, but the funny thing is that no one approaches them and people not infrequently just sit and leave.
- Apparently there is a reason why there are clay things everywhere on this street, all the restaurants here have a twist?
- I don't know, I've only been to a few in the neighborhood, but it was standard. Well, there's not a lot of restaurants, there's coffee shops, there's stores. But this place is special, that's why we came here.
The guy who made this street popular lived in this house, he's gone now, but his idea still draws people here.
- He invented the molding?
- Practically, -Goldy nodded. - There was a man who lived across the street, a traveler by all appearances, but nobody knew him. So this unknown man was a hermit, who talked to people occasionally and briefly. From time to time he would go outside and sculpt statues of women, a few steps from his door. He would start in the evening and finish by dawn, and if he did not finish by dawn, he would destroy the unfinished statues. The owner of the house was always watching this picture, and in any case nothing more interesting was going on. First he watched from the window, then he went out for a short time, then he took out a chair and watched the work of the unknown sculptor at night.
- They were neighbors, were they not acquainted? - There was a note of indignation in Cal's voice.
- I can't say that this story is one hundred percent true. In my opinion, it's a rehashed story from the owner of this restaurant, the former owner. Look, this unknown sculptor sculpted ten women and then disappeared like he never existed.
- What's about for popularity, PR the street?
- At that time, no one built bridges to the island, but there were several ports, the island served as a transit point, so there were enough people. Most of the travelers did not go far from their ships and they entertained themselves within a few kilometers. The owner," Goldy pointed his finger downward, "after waiting for months for his neighbor, who never returned, made his house into a public gathering place, I don't know all the details, but that's what the locals say. Almost every guest was interested in what these statues were, how they came to be here, one told the other then the other told the third and so the rumor spread far beyond the island. As a result, many people wanted to see the statues and hear the story from the locals. The number of people grew and eventually our host decided to open the doors of his house to the tourists, offering them hot food and drinks accompanied by an entertaining story. Other residents followed his example, but the most important marketing move was that he offered people to leave their mark on the island, in the form of a sculpture or figurine molded with their own hands. It worked instantly, people sculpted ships, horses, castles and so on, new houses appeared next to the old ones, someone gave food and drinks as our host, someone gave accommodation, someone else something else. It is in this man's house that we are now in bro, I hope you enjoyed the story.
- How can you not like a story when it comes out of your mouth? It's an interesting story, especially when you see it with your own eyes. More importantly, what happened to the food? - Cal turned back around.
A couple minutes later the food was on the table, tea, a couple pieces of bread, but the dishes were different. Cal assumed that his friend was at it again and was trying to get him to eat differently.
- Ha-ha, that looks delicious, how many can you get?
- I didn't fool you by saying there's only one course and no menu.
- I have a good eye doctor, he'll be sure to help you out.
- That's the specialty of the place, like I said, the chef prepares food for each particular customer at his discretion, you could have porridge, hamburger, anything.
- In that case I'm lucky to have fish in front of me, - Cal's smile reflected contentment. Enjoy your meal, and don't forget I want to make the figurines.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone