“Crafted World”: the first series of the story
Everyone has their own desires and dreams. Sometimes he hides and stores them deep inside himself, but they are out there somewhere. Everyone hopes to bring at least some of them to life or that they themselves will somehow come true. A person returns to them in those moments when he is lonely and has no one to talk to or how to cheer himself up. Dreams can support a person, enliven his daily life, they can also upset him. People often think about missed chances in life, failed endeavors and unrealized dreams. Sometimes such painful memories can make us feel sick. At such moments, we think about how short life is and how we should have tried harder. We mentally recall and relive various moments, episodes and situations from the past and ask ourselves if everything could have turned out better. Shouldn’t we have tried harder, shown more patience and understanding? We rewind the tape several times, mentally changing the course of events and thinking about what could have happened and how everything could have looked. We do the same when we mentally relive moments, episodes and situations in which, as it seems to us, everything developed positively or much better than expected, and we convince ourselves that in fact this has happened to us quite often in life, we had many good days, we were happy and satisfied. There were periods when we lived well. Such is life – diverse and full of surprises. It’s like a cradle that rocks us in one direction or another. A lot in life depends on ourselves, on our desires, on our efforts to move forward and achieve our goals and dreams. Yes, everyone was born in a certain family and until adulthood relied on their parents, lived by their rules. Even if a young man is free-spirited and self-willed, he has no opportunity not to listen to the advice of his relatives and not to observe family customs. The family will expect the young man to study hard, bring home good grades, show good results, treat them with respect. The family will expect that a young man will one day start working and start a family, realize himself professionally and become a successful person whom people treat with respect and whom they point to as an example to their children. These wishes and expectations of families regarding their children are a bit like a template – study, work, create a family, become a successful person. A pattern that at some point can become a burden for these young people. Especially in those times when things are not going well. The next burdensome pattern and stereotype is that if you study well, always get high grades, graduate with honors, if you are hardworking, make efforts at work or in the implementation of your ideas and undertakings, you will definitely succeed. It can also become a heavy psychological burden for a person. Because reality often differs from expectations and stereotypes. Events in life do not always develop as we expect and as we would like. Unforeseen circumstances can often arise, and we find ourselves in unexpected situations for which we are not ready. We can take a path we didn’t expect and face difficulties we didn’t expect to face. We will meet with a variety of people, and many of them will not fit into our ideas about the right thinking and behavior. Many people will do things that we don’t understand and perform actions that contradict our understanding. Many people will have radically different thinking and understanding of life, they will hold opposite opinions on many issues. There will also be a lot of incomprehensible conflicts in which we will not understand why certain people are arguing or swearing. We will also find ourselves in many situations that we do not understand, and we will not know what to do, we will not realize what actions we will have to take to cope with difficulties, to get out of difficult situations in which we find ourselves. All of the above so far can lead to the fact that life events can actually develop not according to our plans and in accordance with our desires and expectations, but in a completely different way. Thus, we can deviate from patterns and stereotypes against our will. It’s just that our life can take another unexpected direction, everything can go on an unexpected trajectory. Of course, if we are strong enough in spirit and fight, we will be able to overcome difficulties and trials, if we plan our actions more carefully and pay more attention to important details, it will be easier for us to avoid unpredictable situations that can seriously complicate our lives. If we always act smart and focused, we will have fewer problems. If we always try and make efforts to study and work hard, if we always make efforts and give our best, and if we do not miss the good opportunities that we see in front of us and the chances that are given to us, then our chances of achieving success and becoming successful people increase. We should always strive for the best, we should always strive to go up. You should never give up the pursuit of your dreams, fall into despondency and despair. Any person should preserve humanity in himself, treat others with understanding and respect. No matter what unpleasant situation we find ourselves in, what difficult problems we face, and regardless of the circumstances, we must remain human. If at some point we decide that we are better than others, that we are something more than others, and that we are superior to them, this can lead us to serious problems and conflicts. In addition, if we think that we can enjoy our power regardless of anything and no one, this can lead us to serious and difficult to predict consequences.
It was a late summer evening. A group of young people were sitting and talking on a park bench. Young people, 20-30 years old, up to 40 years old. Some of them have known each other since childhood, others studied together at school and university. They exchanged experiences about who has achieved what in life. They told who found a job, who has a family and children. Who is happy with their life, who is not…Who has faced what difficulties recently. What is the economic situation at the moment, are people experiencing difficulties, is it difficult to live at the moment in general. Who is to blame and how to improve the situation. One of them, a young man who is about 30 years old, named James, told the others that he was very dissatisfied with his life, his work, what he had achieved at the moment, that he never had enough money and he barely made ends meet, because prices were always high, and at the same time, wages are at a low level. “Notice how prices have risen recently,” James said, “How can a person pay their bills and at the same time live well, everything has become so expensive!” – he exclaimed, – “Most people today live from paycheck to paycheck, and after paying their bills, they only have money for food. This is clearly not enough to meet the needs of people and lead a good life. A person wants to go on vacation regularly and visit interesting places, buy a house and a new car, have enough money and be able to save for important things. While now many people suffer from poverty and lack of opportunities and just survive… They often have to borrow money to replenish the budget and cover their expenses, or have small joys in their lives. This is not life!” James continued to reason, while the others listened and seemed to agree with him. “It is relatively difficult to find a promising and well-paid job,” James continued, “In order to find a job, a person must pass a large number of job interviews, pass a large number of tests to confirm his knowledge, and at the interviews he will hear a large number of pleasant stories and promises about prospects, about development opportunities, which, however, will remain just stories.”
Everyone present at the meeting will agree that it is quite difficult for people to find really good opportunities for work and development. Although many will consider James’s opinion too extreme and pessimistic. Others will think that James is just a loser in life. Or that he is lazy and not a particularly smart and gifted person. According to many, there are many vacancies and job offers and there are no problems with finding a job. Almost every person who wants to work will find some kind of job. But not everything is so simple, if a person is ambitious, it is not so easy for him to find a promising and well-paid job or break into a promising and profitable niche or sphere. A person has to invest quite a lot of time and money to become successful. It rarely happens quickly and immediately. To achieve this, you need to try very hard. Sometimes it can be difficult, frustrations happen, but you should never give up! You need to work hard, study, progress and try to become the best in your profession and field of activity. Most of those present found this conversation generally useful and readily exchanged opinions among themselves. “Starting a private business is also not easy. You have to invest large amounts of money, you often have to pay too high an office rent, you have to be very experienced and precise in planning your actions, avoiding omissions and mistakes,” James said. “Life is really difficult now, I have been collecting money for a long-awaited trip for several months, but a few days ago I had an examination at the dentist, who directly addressed me with the following phrase: Young man, at your age it is unpleasant to be without teeth, you need to take urgent measures. He told me to forget about this trip and that health always comes first and should not be put at risk. And he gave me a price list with the approximate cost of all the interventions that need to be carried out. The total amount turned out to be impressive, everything cost much more than the planned trip. I refused to travel this summer and probably won’t go next summer either. Probably something will come up again. Life consists of compromises. There’s no way we can do everything at the same time, we’ll never have enough money.” continued James. Rebecca was listening intently to the conversation, but at the same time she was digging into her smartphone. While browsing her smartphone, she suddenly discovered a somewhat strange advertising site that was not like the others. The site was very original in design and very original in general, and with very interesting features. It had a very original logo – a circle resembling the planet Earth, and a lot of people holding hands in a circle. The ads were divided into categories, but the content of the ads did not open immediately, and first you had to read a short preview of the ad and fill out a short form with questions, and only after that the ad opened. When you open this site, you see a lot of original previews of ads that literally tempt you to fill out a questionnaire and open them. The site featured curious windows, buttons and entrances to mysterious virtual rooms and spaces that were locked and required the client to have a special key to unlock them and gain access to them. Some spaces were named in such a way that one could guess their purpose, but about some others almost nothing was clear. It could be assumed that certain products and services were hidden behind mysterious windows and buttons, to view which it was necessary to obtain special access or special permission. It can be assumed that locked entrances to secret rooms and spaces actually lead to closed or secret communities and interest clubs, which require a special invitation to enter. The site featured unusual boxes that were also locked. Some of them were labeled, and, for example, it was implied that if you open a certain box, you will receive useful information in a certain area or receive your surprise or gift for the day. From the inscription on one of the boxes, it became clear that if it is open, you will be able to enter into a chat session with other site visitors gathered by interests similar to yours. When registering on the site, a questionnaire is also filled out, which is more voluminous than the questionnaire for ads. The ads on the site were ranked based on a rating that Rebecca still didn’t understand. The site itself had access levels that were also based on ratings, but it was too early for Rebecca to know about these details. It was still her first introduction to the site and her first contact with this mysterious system and universe of possibilities. An ad caught her attention. She read the preview and filled out a short survey, after which the advertisement opened. It was a job announcement because Rebecca was looking for a new job. The ad offered a position on a mysterious online platform-an online trading platform that she had never heard of, but the position offered matched her interests and experience. The announcement invited candidates to become part of a cohesive team working on interesting international projects, and at the same time, the announcement contained a somewhat strange opportunity for a business organization, namely, to cover all expenses of new employees over the next few months and provide additional financial support for as long as needed. Rebecca was worried that this online platform might recruit prostitutes. Which company will just pay all your expenses? In addition, the announcement emphasized that everything is based on successful interaction and mutual assistance between employees, on relationships based on mutual trust, understanding and respect between team members. The possibilities of receiving assistance and support, including financial, opportunities to participate in unique and unprecedented projects, opportunities for development and growth, as well as the amazing culture and atmosphere of the company were emphasized. Many surprises and positive emotions were promised. In addition, Rebecca noticed a curious message in the advertisement: “Change your life forever, and you will never regret it!”. As if those who posted this ad know very well that the lives of many people are hard, gray and boring. Rebecca decides to apply for this position and send her resume. She will share the ad with others, arousing their inimitable interest. Some of the people who attended the meeting will doubt how real this site is, and not fraudulent, how real the ads placed are, and not fraud and an attempt to mislead people. They will wonder whether this site is part of a pyramid scheme and whether it was created by bandits and organized criminal groups and is not controlled by them. Most of these young people will start following the ads on the site regularly. They will tell their friends and acquaintances about it. But they will be afraid to send resumes or even register on this site for a long time. For a long time, Rebecca will remain the only one who applied for a job and got the job found on the site. The rest will choose other ways of development and will move in other directions. Otherwise, everything on the site is described so beautifully. It seems there is something for everyone here…
Author: Anton S. Petrov
“Crafted World”: Preface and Introduction
Preface
This series was created in order to show how far difficulties and failures in life can lead us, what we can face if we lose heart, in what risky and dangerous situations we can find ourselves, in what stories with an unpredictable outcome we can get into. This story is put together to show that people will always strive for the best, no matter which path they choose. They will always strive to rise, surface and move on. Yes, in search of the right path, they will find themselves in difficult situations, and sometimes, finding themselves at a dead end, they will have to interact with people who cannot be completely trusted, including suspicious or even dangerous. In their desperation, people tend to believe in sweet fairy tales about a bright future, about incredible offers and unexpected successes. In such difficult periods, they tend to trust even people they don’t know at all, naively expecting that these people will become their saviors. Often this naivety leads to even more difficult situations, to even more unpleasant consequences, which further deplete their strength. Their desire to fight in life begins to weaken, but hope still remains. Their unrealized dreams are buried somewhere deep. Many people do not despair completely, but simply carry the pain in their hearts. They return to their gray daily life, go to their disgusting work. But they don’t give up. They keep trying to find the right way and achieve results and success. These people have achieved a lot, graduated from school and university with honors or, at least, with high grades, received a lot of praise at work, were promoted, of course, they received criticism and dismissals, they also had failures, like any normal person. Yes, at some point, negativity can begin to dominate someone’s life.At the same time, he wants to achieve something more in life, to achieve higher positions at work and in society, to please his loved ones with his successes, he wants to prevail over his critics and generally be more successful and happier. A person can be very ambitious and purposeful, and also have a great desire to achieve high goals, to become a successful person. He can invest a lot of time and effort in his endeavors, try to make his dreams come true. But it doesn’t always work. Often things don’t go the way we want, but in a completely different way. A long streak of failures can seriously disturb and depress a person. It can make him less smiling and cheerful, and more thoughtful and unhappy. And when it goes on for a relatively long time, it becomes complicated. A person can start hoping for unexpected luck, an unprecedented surprise and a turning point in his life, without doing anything special. He can hope that circumstances will change someday and everything will work out by itself. Or that he will meet his savior. The role of such saviors can often be played by people who like to profit from the life problems of ordinary people and their naivety and despair, various scoundrels, scammers and criminals who offer unrealistic and impracticable things. Thus, the cycle in which a person’s life can consist mainly of difficulties and negative emotions can repeat, and more than once. This can lead him to despair. It is very bad when there is not even a breath of fresh air in life, nothing interesting can be seen on the horizon that could please him and inspire hope, nothing can be seen that could awaken him to a new life. And such a turning point can still come, and it can come quite unexpectedly and be associated with circumstances that are completely beyond his control. Suddenly, interesting people may appear in someone’s life. Whether these will be the very people we need, we don’t know yet. But they can offer even more than we expect if we agree to change our lives and go a different way. We will be brought back to life, and we will again be ambitious, purposeful, combat-ready and happy as never before. We have a curious way to go. We will face adversity and adventure again, but we will have wings. The choice of what to do and what steps to take is up to us. Things may already be going better than expected, but we always have to be careful what we do. We can fight for success and good goals, but we must be careful with methods and means. Yes, at some point we may find ourselves on the side of successful people and leave the past behind. But we are still human, we must not forget about the human in us…
Introduction
In the “Crafted World” series, we will witness a large-scale struggle for supremacy and power, we will witness a clash between various alternatives for the development of a world in which ordinary people may at first seem like small pawns in a big game. They will have to cope with life’s difficulties on their own and look for a way to success. Many of them will not be able to find the right path, will face difficulties and will become desperate. They won’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. As if nothing can save them. They will continue to work in their disgusting, stressful, low-paid jobs, live their boring lives and blame themselves and others for their misfortunes. They will suffer from grief and poverty. They will envy the rich and successful and wonder why they fail to realize themselves well, fail to achieve their goals, fail to realize their dreams. They will wonder why other people have everything and they have almost nothing. They will compare themselves with others and secretly wonder why they are worse than others. They will ask themselves what they are wrong about. They also studied well, didn’t they also work, didn’t they also strive to succeed? They also try very hard and start a large number of undertakings. They will often wonder why their life is so complicated, unhappy and filled with negative emotions. Why don’t other people understand their problems, why are they treated so coldly everywhere? Why do so many evil people make evil comments, trying to make them look like losers? Why are there so many people who rise without having any special qualities? Why are there so many people who can only flatter the powerful, lie, slander others and maintain a loving relationship with their superiors, but at the same time climb the career ladder relatively quickly? While the main characters of the series are smart, ambitious, hardworking, proactive and really think they have the qualities necessary for success. A significant number of successful people also have the same qualities. But our heroes have not been able to succeed for a long time. Despite the stereotype that if you are smart enough, ambitious, hardworking and proactive, you will definitely become successful. Failure and poverty suppress their self-esteem, their will to live. They begin to lose confidence in themselves, their qualities and abilities. They lose their tone and desire for development, eventually reaching despair and timelessness. They begin to hope that everything just comes from somewhere. But it is unknown from where. Or they hope that everything will happen by itself. They begin to trust questionable people and follow questionable practices that bring them more problems instead of success. These people are sinking more and more financially and psychologically.
And as we know, unexpected surprises often happen in life. While there is absolutely no hope for improvement on the horizon, a mysterious man named Richard (Rich) suddenly appears in the lives of the main characters. Rich looks like a successful middle-aged man running a solid business. Rich says that he can offer them development options if they are sufficiently restrained and loyal. At first they suspect that he is just another fraudster who just wants to make more money from suffering and desperate people. But, surprisingly, it later turns out that Rich is actually a member of a very powerful secret community that seeks to create, offer and develop an alternative to the current world order. People call this community the “Sky Club” because they hold their secret meetings high in the mountains or on the upper floors of skyscrapers, away from the eyes of ordinary people. Another unofficial name for them is “Artisans”, because they love original handmade products, and also like to receive and give original handmade gifts. Their love of original things becomes an important part of their strategy to gain more power and influence in the world. They encourage people to create original products and have an original way of looking at things. In their opinion, every person and every business should have its own unique style and its own unique face that distinguish them from the rest. In order for there to be more happiness in the world, it is necessary to create, sell and distribute more unique things. People should not create and produce only identical or similar products. The Sky Club idolizes talented people and relies on human ingenuity, on the desire of each person, team, group or organization to create their own unique style with which they can stand out from the rest. It welcomes diligence and hard work, it welcomes the desire to learn and practice, it encourages the creation and implementation of innovations. This secret community seeks to change the world by offering more opportunities for development and more opportunities for interaction and mutual assistance between people, seeks to change people’s way of thinking, change their value system and at the same time gain even more influence, power and money. Their concept of changing the world order is based on the idea that people have the opportunity to unite in interest groups and on certain common grounds, creating mutual aid organizations that interact with each other. For example, people who share the same values and ideas about life should be able to join groups or clubs and create mutual aid organizations that interact with mutual aid organizations of other groups and clubs. These organizations should have their own budget and be able to provide grants and loans to their members and other organizations. The money should be collected at the expense of membership fees, which are not fixed, but in accordance with the capabilities of different people, and thus a budget and a reserve fund should be formed. The rich should be able to bring in more, the poor less. Financial control should be strict, and all participants should participate in voting and make decisions about what to spend money on. According to Sky Club members, mutual assistance is expressed not only in money, but also in providing opportunities, guidance, advice, a good attitude, as well as in the development of good and mutually beneficial relationships. Sky Club members strive to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to get help in case of difficulties, and not be left to fend for themselves alone. The members of the club are convinced that if a person is sure that he has someone to turn to for help in a difficult moment, he feels more secure in life in general and more confident in the future. They develop curious secret methods to achieve their goals. They work extremely carefully on their ideas about life and the new world order and inspire their followers to work together with them, to enter into the role of craftsmen who create every detail of the new world with great care. At the same time, according to Sky Club members, the official state should not stop functioning, legislate and collect taxes, but it should work better. In their opinion, the creation of mutual aid organizations does not weaken the state, but complements it. Groups, clubs and mutual aid organizations can solve problems that are beyond the power of the state. This way, people would have more opportunities to discuss and solve problems. It would be easier for them to find common ground if there were things that unite them, or they united around ideas that they like. The Sky Club community has powerful tools, lobbies and mass media, but it promotes its ideas unnoticed, without coming into direct conflict with rulers and governments around the world. Many members of the secret community are truly convinced of their rightness and sincerely want to help people and create more opportunities for them. In their opinion, there are too many people in the world who are under the pressure of poverty and lack of sufficient opportunities for development. Sometimes difficulties and failures lead these people to despair and deadlock. They don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Their life is hard, hopeless and unhappy. Everyday life is gray and unpleasant. Hard and unpleasant work and lack of prospects exhaust them physically and mentally. And the appearance of people like Rich is an unexpected surprise for them, a ray of light and a breath of fresh air in their lives. Rich gives hope to these people, awakens them to a new life and new adventures. A new path of development looms on the horizon. Interaction, mutual understanding and mutual assistance between members of the organization and people in general are put in the first place. Many people are starting to believe in the ideas of the Sky Club community. Over time, the secret fans and followers of the Sky Club community will increase significantly, its strength and capabilities will increase. However, many of the followers are not perfect at all and often act on the verge of the law, which leads to conflicts with official authorities. The community is gradually turning into an empire, which is a real challenge for governments around the world…During this time, some characters who were previously desperate and unhurried find themselves on the crest of a wave, becoming leaders capable of coping with any challenge. It’s just that the methods and means that different characters use to achieve their goals and common goals are very different. Between the followers of the “Sky Club” (“Artisans”) quarrels and conflicts begin. An important challenge for many of them is to preserve humanity in themselves and treat others with understanding. There are also unscrupulous people who create disagreements in the community and among its followers.
Author: Anton S. Petrov
This series of short stories was created and performed in a new format of short stories called “Exciting Flight”. Learn more about the amazing “Exciting Flight” format here:
