Parallel: A Journey Beyond

By Andrew Giuliano Lo Russo

This story is about the struggles of a young man who is running away from his destiny; a destiny filled with expectations to follow in his father’s footsteps.

His father is a prominent figure in their society and it is up to his son to become a beacon of hope after their homeland is devastated by an invading empire, affecting everyone, especially the main characters.

Throughout the story, reoccurring events haunt the main character, but in actuality, help transcend this young man, who is also dealing with his own internal immaturities, into adulthood and to the destiny he never thought he wanted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781035821563

Andrew Giuliano Lo Russo

Andrew Giuliano Lo Russo currently lives in Southern California. Originally from Milan, Italy, he spent the majority of his life in the United States, frequently travelling back to Italy to visit family. Having grown up away from relatives, he has always felt a disconnect from life and in constant search for his true self. This life-long exploration has found its way onto the canvass, music and most profoundly in literature. He began writing poetry over 20 years ago as a method of recording his deepest thoughts, emotions and fears. About 15 years ago, he began writing Parallel as a means of understanding his own path in life, but paralleling his life with that of the book’s main character. All of his writings are centred on his search for the meaning of life in a world that can be chaotic, yet beautiful at the same time.

Book preview

About the Author

Andrew Giuliano Lo Russo currently lives in Southern California. Originally from Milan, Italy, he spent the majority of his life in the United States, frequently travelling back to Italy to visit family. Having grown up away from relatives, he has always felt a disconnect from life and in constant search for his true self. This life-long exploration has found its way onto the canvass, music and most profoundly in literature.

He began writing poetry over 20 years ago as a method of recording his deepest thoughts, emotions and fears. About 15 years ago, he began writing Parallel as a means of understanding his own path in life, but paralleling his life with that of the book’s main character. All of his writings are centred on his search for the meaning of life in a world that can be chaotic, yet beautiful at the same time.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my family and friends, who are my beacons of light.

Copyright Information ©

Andrew Giuliano Lo Russo 2023

The right of Andrew Giuliano Lo Russo to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035821556 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035821563 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Chapter 1

Ronnie whispers to himself between his deep heavy breaths, Must move quietly. Scattering through the thick brush, trying not to be heard, Ronnie’s every move, every breath, every thought is precise and calculated. He has to ignore his fatigue, his badly scraped hands and knees, all the physical pain he has endured during this bout of escape.

"I wish I could just stop and rest; I wish they would just let me live", are his prevailing thoughts.

He is remorseful for all he has done, or better, all that he has failed to prevent. Unfortunately, he can’t go back in time and change the series of events that put him here; being hunted like an escaped felon, on this cold, wet, dark mountain, miles from civilization, miles from sanity. All of his thoughts right now are focused on survival. He has yet to realize how to amend the situation, how to make peace with himself, or how this moment would soon be the blessing he had subconsciously wished for many years. He believes the end is near and that his life could end soon if he is caught, but he refuses to give up. He must continue and hide in hopes that all will be forgotten and he is forgiven. If he could hide out or simply disappear into the night, then so will his problems, the confused and immature Ronnie believes.

This has been Ronnie’s main character flaw his entire life. When things go wrong, he runs and hides in hope that as time passes, his mischievous ways will too, be forgiven. But times have changed, especially during these eventful times. What he did can never be forgotten for he had single-handily changed society, changed everything his father, Rem, worked a lifetime to build. Ronnie, growing up, always felt he couldn’t live up to his father’s high standards, and this warped his sense of who he was. Rem’s work was very important and demanded much of his time and attention, and Ronnie never understood that. Because of this, Ronnie was a very reckless child, had a short attention span and never showed interest in his father’s work. He secretly vowed to never work hard and to never devote his own life to any kind of work, but rather to spend all his waking hours selfishly relishing his own pleasures.

Down below, voices and flickers of blue light catches his attention, especially the unusual blue lights which he had seen only once before. It’s time to move up and find a different hiding place. Ronnie stands up, grabs his pack, and continues up the mountain with no destination in mind. His main advantage is his knowledge of this terrain. He has fond memories of the area stemming back from his countless backpacking and rock-climbing excursions. This was, of course, how he escaped life when things got tough at home. For days and sometimes weeks on end, he would disappear without telling anyone where he was going and when family came looking for him, he would hide in trees, under shrubs, rocks, just about anywhere that was possible to avoid any punishment. But now, if he’s found he’s not going to be yelled at or grounded, the punishment will be much harsher.

One hour turns to two, then three, four, five. Ronnie feels he had put enough distance between him and his captors and that it is a good time to find a secure and safe hiding place. He notices an old hide out; a large tree that he once climbed into and spent the night during one of his outings. It’s a great place to set up camp for the night because he will be able to see or hear if anyone gets within miles of him. With his pack over his shoulder he climbs up into the tree, deep into its thick branches and finally rests on one of its widest braches about 20 feet up from the ground.

That night, he was deep into sleep when all of a sudden, he is awakened by a brilliant blue flash of light. So brilliant and resonating was the flash that he sprung to his feet, stumbling, and nearly falling off his perch, only saving himself by grabbing hold of his pack that was tied around the branch. Dangling like a human piñata, held up by the straps of his pack, still half asleep and trying to remember what had initially awaken him, he begins to swing back-and-forth like a pendulum, but soon finds his way back up to safety. As soon as he regains his calm, he lays on his back, closes his eyes and just as he falls back asleep he is awakened after he is overwhelmed by an eerie sensation that he is being watched. Alarmed, he quickly springs up again, but this time is more cautious, and crouches down like a cat and peers through the branches into the dark, still night, trying to make sense of any movement or sound. Nothing, nobody, only darkness. Now fully awake and alert, he mutters to himself, What is that blue light?

The mysterious blue flash of light that was so bright that the entire universe lit up, brings back the memory of the first time Ronnie had seen it. But why now, why is he the only one that apparently can see it. The prior time he witnessed it in the presence of others, no one else recalled it, only him, only his eyes actually saw the spectacle.

Ronnie, now beginning to relax once again, is again overwhelmed by a feeling of being watched. This time he looks straight down and is shocked when down below him, staring up at him, glowing like an angel encircled in a beautifully peaceful white light, is Rem, his father, who Ronnie believed had recently passed away. Ronnie’s entire body freezes at the sight of his father. Not knowing how to react, what to say, or even if he was actually still asleep, starts to panic, but then receives a telepathic message from Rem telling him to, stop hiding. Soon after, Rem’s image vanishes into thin air, leaving only the stillness of the night. This time, Ronnie springs up to his knees and now realizes he was dreaming. He checks his surroundings and gives himself a quick pinch, just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming now.

The following morning, Ronnie is awakened by the sounds of footsteps slowly approaching. The slow pace, the stop and go nature of movement, terrifies him as he fears he was spotted. He lays motionless trying not to breathe loudly, waiting, waiting, and waiting. Panic starts to set in. The not knowing what will happen next was too much. His entire body trembles in fear. The last time he felt this scared and alone was after he believed his father had died. I know, I know, don’t worry, was his favorite response to his father anytime he showed concern about Ronnie’s future. Rem had always assumed Ronnie would continue his work after his death, and this presumption was not Rem’s fault. The footsteps appear to have stopped. It has been nearly one hour, and not a sound, nothing. Ronnie decides to stay put, at least until nightfall. He is in a great hiding place, and if he doesn’t make a sound, he can’t be spotted. The blue flash from the previous night’s dream crossed his mind again. He remembered clearly the first time he saw it. It was the night that started everything, or at least, the night the world around him changed forever.

Ronnie was about to turn 20. He lived a carefree life, was learning his trade, even though he felt his father forced him into it, but he didn’t care because he still had the freedom to come and go as he pleased. Rem was a hard-working Master Communicator, or at least this was what Ronnie believed. Ronnie too, was learning this trade in school, or was supposed to learn. Instead, he was focusing more of his attention on the mountains than his academics. Shelly, his mother, was a homemaker. She spent most of her free time in the garden, growing food for the community, something that Ronnie was also involved with and quite good at. Since Ronnie was their only child, she adored him and let him get away with everything, often hiding things from Rem, such as his poor academic standing. She didn’t understand Rem’s work, but knew that he was an important figure in his field and community and that his work kept him away from the family most of the time. As a result, she was in charge of raising Ronnie and rarely disciplined him because she didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable at home. On the rare occasions when the entire family was together, they would all go to the mountains for days