Short Description
“Passing Clouds” is a book of strange short stories.
They happen in peculiar universes, with eerie laws, to unusual characters…
But they are not completely implausible. They are about what matters in our lives. They contemplate knowledge, will, beauty, culture, creativity, language… and identity.
Obscure, and purposefully convoluted, as they sometimes are, the stories are connected by a visible thread. There are symbols everywhere, and each story has reflections of other stories and popular works of art/literature.
The Stories
1
Synaesthesia (Short Story #1) points to the dilemma creative people face as their daemons haunt them, shatter their stability, compelling them to go to desolate and unexplored places. Fear, uncertainty, obsession, love..
”
You will keep running. You will keep avoiding the mirror. You will keep acting, dancing, and doing what they want, ..until you can no longer breathe, and you fall into your grave.. embracing the man who was never you.
“
From: Synaesthesia. Passing Clouds.
2
Enki’s Seeds (Short Story #2) is about the similarities and differences of the world… The tension in cultures, as they bring people together and apart… leading to the creation of divine beauty!
”
But the people of Erido weren’t like its trees. They lived in chaos, and their world was dark and limited. They were bonded to the earth and dirt, and lived like slaves. slaves to their food, slaves to their ever-elusive comfort.. They were slaves to their hour and their day.
“
From: Enki’s Seeds. Passing Clouds.
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3
The Path of Hearts (Short Story #3) is about the hand of destiny, love, and risk. It is about the divine grace that blesses creators and survivors.
”
The anger and screams of the people would sometimes materialize to him on that height as strange creatures, with scary shapes sometimes, and resembling – in other instances – flies…
“
From: The Path of Hearts. Passing Clouds.
4
Vantage Point (Short Story #4) is a fusion of small stories that form an infinite loop… Just like us as we observe ourselves, and lose the observer in the process (Who’s looking?).
“
He just couldn’t be gloomy as he expected he would be when she told him.
It was as if he was looking at another story, not his own.
He would admire the unfolding events, instead of being affected by his own destiny.
“
From : Vantage Point. Passing Clouds.
5
The Choice Contraction (Short Story #5) is about the mazes of our choices. It is about the amazing prisons we willingly lock ourselves into, believing that it is a matter of free choice.
”
We wanted to learn about the world and to explore all the (..) options and differences in it. One can’t satisfy the eternal thirst without choosing. One must choose – at least – what direction to look in.
“
From: The Choice Contraction. Passing Clouds.
6
Displacement (Short Story #6) is a story about the balance of creativity (newness) and stability. What should happen if people get too comfortable… and they stop changing and growing?
”
I will force them to leave, one way or another. I will wreck this world which they think is their own. I will break their childish attachment to fake weak stone gods that they themselves have erected.
“
From: Displacement. Passing Clouds.
7
The Borders of the Cave (Short Story #7) tells the story of a soul eager to leave the underground… Eager to transform into a vision and a blessing, even as the burden of responsibility keeps it bound to its people.
“
The baptism usually ends with haste, and with a belief in the truthfulness of prophecies and scriptures.
It ends with a desire to go back to one’s home and family,
maybe because duty is easier than the unknown.
“
From: The Borders of the Cave. Passing Clouds.
8
Extension (Short Story #8) is about a world (and a people) reaching out to the universe… looking for immortality away from a place that has exhausted its old purpose.
“
I send this message from behind walls that separate worlds.
I don’t have much left but I try to extend my hand into the deep void in front of me.
We’re always encouraged by an enigmatic force to do that; don’t you agree?
“
From: Extension. Passing Clouds.
9
ÂliPH – Uau (Short Story #9) is about the relationship between writers and readers. Who brings all these created worlds to life? Does the writer write the story, or does it write him?
“
He has always lived in books and their worlds, lost in them, absent from all else.
The (imagined) images and stories and words and sounds devoured him, transforming their potentialities into an embodiment of infinite beauty
“
From: Aliph-Uau. Passing Clouds.
10
Passing Clouds (Short Story #10) chronicles the rise and demise of Loglan: a civilization with a perfectly clear language, and with a culture built on reason and science. The problem is that it carries a rebellious magical seed.
“
Loglan represents all that is true and clear.
It is a living testimony against chaos and destructive passions.
This is its essence and legacy..
Here, no values rise above the values of science, precision, and logic.
“
From: Passing Clouds. Passing Clouds.
11
East of the Desert (Short Story #11) is not a story in the sense of the world. It is a reflection on the other stories, and on the beautiful multiplicity and potential that inhabit the world.
“
Her presence and her kindness were overwhelming, and briefly, instead of thinking about the cold and the light, i thought about the mysterious warmth that dwells in dreams, and escapes into the world sometimes.
“
From: East of the Desert. Passing Clouds.