Bridging Worlds: Stories of Connection Across Time and Space

By Luigi Pascal Rondanini

Traverse the psyches of figures grappling with existential questions, like the reality-doubting schizophrenic in "Shattering Reality" or the dimension-defying friendship between two boys centuries apart in "Bridging Yesteryear." These dramatic scenarios serve not just as thought experiments but also as profiles of courage depicting outcasts struggling to reconstruct meaning amidst life's harshest limiting walls.

Additionally, speculative scenarios allow us to reexamine norms from provocative angles, whether we're rooting for discovered cryogenic humans to integrate with androids in "The Discovery" or unlocking the motivations of a vigilante psychiatrist thief in "Behind the Mask." By becoming immersed in these atypical fictional landscapes, it's my hope you'll return from the journey with refreshed eyes towards the intricacies, contrasts, and profound magic still embedding the world immediately around us each new day.

So, without further ado, let your imagination take flight!

The worlds awaiting behind these pages overflow with surreal transformations, psychedelic visions, whimsical quests, and characters courageously chasing redemption who might inspire us in turn.

Let's reconstruct Reality with a capital "R" by first shattering limiting assumptions—then inviting you, fellow traveller, to help gather the pieces into new mosaics alive with awe and possibility! Let our shared journey begin now...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luigi Pascal Rondanini
• Release date: Jan 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224718283

Luigi Pascal Rondanini

Author also writes as Pascal De Napoli. Luigi Pascal Rondanini's determination and tenacity in pursuing his ideals pushed him to leave his native Naples to pursue the opportunities offered by the world. Born in November 1967 and raised in the capital of Campania, from a young age he cultivated a passion for writing and politics. The desire for social justice led him to actively engage in social issues and write literary works inspired by these values. At a very young age, he moved abroad to the United Kingdom, where he embarked on a brilliant career in the financial sector and continued his passion for writing, infusing his works with social and political themes with courage and frankness. Despite living in London, Rondanini has never lost the connection with his Neapolitan roots after having lived on five continents. In his writings, Neapolitan culture and identity emerge vividly as an example of cultural diversity that enriches humanity. Rondanini wants to inspire readers to pursue their dreams with courage and determination. His story demonstrates how, with commitment and sacrifice, you can achieve great goals while remaining true to yourself and your va lues. Less

Book preview

Introduction

Welcome, dear reader!

I'm thrilled to invite you into the captivating worlds awaiting within this book. As an avid reader and creative writer since childhood, I've always relished tales that push imaginative boundaries. The sixteen stories contained herein represent my attempts to build portals into spaces both fantastical yet philosophically rich in insight into our perplexing human condition.

You'll traverse the psyches of figures grappling with existential questions, like the reality-doubting schizophrenic in Shattering Reality or the dimension-defying friendship between two boys centuries apart in Bridging Yesteryear. These dramatic scenarios serve not just as thought experiments but also as profiles of courage depicting outcasts struggling to reconstruct meaning amidst life's harshest limiting walls.

Additionally, speculative scenarios allow us to reexamine norms from provocative angles, whether we're rooting for discovered cryogenic humans to integrate with androids in The Discovery or unlocking the motivations of a vigilante psychiatrist thief in Behind the Mask. By becoming immersed in these atypical fictional landscapes, it's my hope you'll return from the journey with refreshed eyes towards the intricacies, contrasts, and profound magic still embedding the world immediately around us each new day.

So, without further ado, let your imagination take flight! The worlds awaiting behind these pages overflow with surreal transformations, psychedelic visions, whimsical quests, and characters courageously chasing redemption who just might inspire us in turn. Ultimately, I aimed while writing this weird yet wondrous collection to reconstruct Reality with a capital R by first shattering limiting assumptions—then inviting you, fellow traveller, to help gather the pieces into new mosaics alive with awe and possibility!

Our shared journey begins now...

Luigi P

Shattering Reality

I awaken to shadows stirring, spectres slithering across my bedroom ceiling. My pulse quickens. I squeeze my eyes shut and count slowly to ten, chanting the coping strategies my doctor recited. Deep breath in. Hold tight. Exhale the darkness. The monsters above melt back into cracks and plaster when I open my eyes. Crisis averted.

For now.

Morning light filters through dusty windows, casting everything in a haze. I blink hard several times, adjusting sight. My home appears only half-there anymore, with washed-out colours bleeding together. I rummage the fridge for nourishment only to find fuzzy grey shapes, unidentifiable, inedible. When did I last manage proper grocery shopping? Time and tasks blur hazily, too.

The clock display reads 11:34 am. Or maybe 5:46 pm? Impossible to trust perception when the passing hours and minutes randomly scramble reality and play tricks resetting world order. Schizophrenia, they diagnosis this maddening glitch in my circuitry that disrupts logic and hijacks sanity.

I grab my wallet and keys to hit the pharmacy for my antipsychotic pills, essential to keep dark, chaotic forces caged inside my imagination rather than unleashed disastrously. Glancing in the smudged hallway mirror, I was startled to see a stranger's face staring back - sallow complexion, nervous eyes, scraggly hair shooting manically in all directions. The distorted image makes me shudder. Quickly, I look away before the apparition devours me whole.

Stepping outside, I'm blinded by scorching sunlight one moment, then find myself abruptly on rain-soaked streets the next. Pedestrians wear tee shirts under sunny rays that immediately shift into thick winter coats when the deluge starts. Clearly, my perceptions still scramble to catch up with my actual surroundings. I fight panic rising as my precarious mental footing slips evermore.

Approaching the pharmacy counter, words tumble out, requesting my antipsychotic prescription refill to silence the attacking inner demons. But the clerk only frowned, confused, and asked what I needed again. My requests sound garbled, and language centres malfunctioning. I gestured helplessly at the shelves behind me, hoping she understood. Mercifully, she does, producing the correct vials and allowing me to swallow control again temporarily.

Exiting the sidewalk, I blinked against violently swirling colours and misplaced shadows dancing mockingly around me. A passing businessman's polished shoes appear clad in high heels one moment, blood-soaked bandages the next. A child licking ice cream transforms into a horned red creature flickering its tongue obscenely. I stagger towards a bench, fighting these assaults from my personal underworld gates flung open.

Woozily looking up through the mental fog, I notice an older woman smiling kindly down at me. Her bright yellow puffer jacket seemed to glow with ethereal sunshine, piercing the darkness and threatening to wholly swallow me.

May I join you here? she asks gently.

I nod hesitantly. Usually, I avoid public interactions, fearing my hallucinations might betray my sanity. But her luminous aura exudes calming energy, so I make space on the damp bench.

Rough waters out there today, eh, son? She gestures vaguely around us, though the skies have somehow cleared again to placid blue. At the same time, villagers laugh breezily while strolling through the summery park. I clear my throat nervously, scarcely able to meet her knowing gaze, surely recognising madness brewing behind my twitchy demeanour.

We all have battles aimed to sink us, days barely keeping heads above crushing tides. She continues introspectively. Yet also hidden oases if we but know where to seek...

From her oversized purse, the woman produces a slightly squashed peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pressing it gently into my trembling hands. The tangible sensations - smooth bread crinkling in my grip, sticky sweet, nutty aroma hitting nostrils, viscous peanut paste glueing painfully dry mouth - suddenly anchor me back into the body and physical plane after hours? Days? Floating formlessly through dreamlike delirium between realities.

I thank her profusely, famished wolfing down this decadent tangible feast, daring again to meet her eyes. Her words resonate with profound undercurrents suggesting personal demons battled in ways beyond just faulty brain chemistry. We sit in this sacred liminal lunch space without speaking, two human islands steadying together, if only briefly.

A loud truck clattering past shatters the reverie as my surroundings morph back into overwhelming chaos. Neon