Tears of Steel (eBook)
eBook Download:
EPUB
2015
|
1. Auflage
194 Seiten
Jacques G. Chamchoumis (Verlag)
978-960-92778-5-3 (ISBN)
194 Seiten
Jacques G. Chamchoumis (Verlag)
978-960-92778-5-3 (ISBN)
Haunted by the faded ghost of an unforgiving father that he is unable to forget and the tender shadow of a girl's smile that he can barely remember, he fills his career-driven life with self-indulgent distractions to escape his pain: travel, adventure and, most notably, beautiful women. Yet, he cannot escape her. Each time her spectral image appears he breaks off whatever current relationship he is involved in, mercilessly shredding to pieces the hearts of innumerable women along the way. Many times he comes to the brink of placing her somewhere at the outer limits of his memory, but he never manages to. And the lingering face continues to torment him. That is until he feels the frozen kiss of death approaching in the moments before a nearly fatal crash. Behind a bloodstained dashboard, the shadow of her smile appears once more, and gradually his memory returns home. She was the only woman he ever loved but he lost her in a fatal car accident. She had promised to always be by his side, to return even from death in order to be with him. Will she keep her promise? Is it only a dream? And yet, dreams sometimes come true. A beautiful tale of fathers, friendship, love and loss, romance and hate, professional success and personal disaster, all encompassed by the twilight of a captivating mystery, 'Tears of Steel' offers profound insights into our most personal relationships and our deepest emotions. Incredible and fascinating; one man's quest for happiness, filled with profound discourse revealing timeless truths that too frequently remain hidden to us all. 'Tears of Steel' may not change your life, just the way you live it and by so doing you may be able to remember who you were before you were told who you should be.
Jacques' heart is haunted by the faded ghost of a distant father he has tried to forget, and by the tender shadow of a girl's smile he cannot remember. To dull his pain, he falls into hedonism: exotic locales, thrilling escapades and above all, beautiful women. Fleeing his wife's alcoholism, his memories of his first love, and his fear of becoming like his father, Jacques struggles to find an escape. He finds it in the embrace of a string of beautiful women he encounters while traveling on business. Women in hotel piano-bars, at reception desks, and throughout his high-flying life, all strive vainly to mend his broken heart. Each of these short-lived love affairs, passionate and thrilling, is brought to a similar abrupt ending. He spurns these tender efforts, carrying deep in his heart a grim determination to find the woman he has always loved, without knowing who it was that called out to him to wait for her. Many times he reaches the cusp of recollection, never quite able to find her; she remains a faded anemone between the yellowed pages of his memory. Not, that is, until he feels the death's frosty kiss upon him in the moments before a nearly fatal crash. Behind a bloodstained dashboard of his small plane, the shadow of her smile appears once more, and with it, her memory. The only woman he ever loved may find a way to return from death, just as she promised, in order to bring him back to life. Left to negotiate the messy world of human emotions, he blames his father for never loving him, and the sole reason, as he believes, for the disasters of his emotional world. This struggle to prove himself to an absent, disapproving father would define the life of this incredible man, marking him both for better and for worse. While continuing his studies in Germany, Jacques met the girl whose perfection would haunt him throughout his life. For both of them, this felt like a reunion, as though they were finding each other, and losing each other again and again. Bound together by fate, Jacques and Anna Maria felt an uncanny recognizance on their first meeting at the castle Burg Liebenzell. Kneeling in front of the altar of a chapel, both were sure they had been together before. They promised to search for each other through life and death, should they ever be parted. A terrible accident, resulting to the death of Anna Maria, tore them apart, setting the stage for a reunion some 25 years later, where a magical pendant with the lyre of Orpheus serves its purpose to bring the two lovers together again. The near-death experience revealed to Jacques his true identity, pulling away the obscuring shrouds of mournful memory to show him the woman of his dreams. Upon returning home after recovering from his accident, Jacques is faced with the complete disaster of his marriage. His alcoholic wife is destroying his life, and his children's life. Wishing the best for his family, Jacques sends his wife to the grace of God. Driven to near poverty after a long legal struggle for the custody of his children, he discovers a still more perfect gem - Anna Maria, miraculously returning in his hour of greatest need to rescue him from desperation. Around her neck is the pendant with the lyre of Orpheus he had given her all those years before... Years after, Jacques and Anna Maria moved to his Greek island. It is here that he discovers a poem, written by his father. It reveals at long last his father's deep love for him, liberating him from the burden of hatred that has pressed on him all his sinful life. Too late to rekindle a relationship with his deceased father, Jacques moves forward to share his message with the world: a message of hope, and redemption. A poignant, gripping tale of fathers, friendship, loss and love, mystery and adventure,"e;Tears of Steel"e; offers profound insights into our most personal relationships. "e;Tears of Steel"e; will not change your life but it will show you that pure love is the only path to immortality.
Jacques' heart is haunted by the faded ghost of a distant father he has tried to forget, and by the tender shadow of a girl's smile he cannot remember. To dull his pain, he falls into hedonism: exotic locales, thrilling escapades and above all, beautiful women. Fleeing his wife's alcoholism, his memories of his first love, and his fear of becoming like his father, Jacques struggles to find an escape. He finds it in the embrace of a string of beautiful women he encounters while traveling on business. Women in hotel piano-bars, at reception desks, and throughout his high-flying life, all strive vainly to mend his broken heart. Each of these short-lived love affairs, passionate and thrilling, is brought to a similar abrupt ending. He spurns these tender efforts, carrying deep in his heart a grim determination to find the woman he has always loved, without knowing who it was that called out to him to wait for her. Many times he reaches the cusp of recollection, never quite able to find her; she remains a faded anemone between the yellowed pages of his memory. Not, that is, until he feels the death's frosty kiss upon him in the moments before a nearly fatal crash. Behind a bloodstained dashboard of his small plane, the shadow of her smile appears once more, and with it, her memory. The only woman he ever loved may find a way to return from death, just as she promised, in order to bring him back to life. Left to negotiate the messy world of human emotions, he blames his father for never loving him, and the sole reason, as he believes, for the disasters of his emotional world. This struggle to prove himself to an absent, disapproving father would define the life of this incredible man, marking him both for better and for worse. While continuing his studies in Germany, Jacques met the girl whose perfection would haunt him throughout his life. For both of them, this felt like a reunion, as though they were finding each other, and losing each other again and again. Bound together by fate, Jacques and Anna Maria felt an uncanny recognizance on their first meeting at the castle Burg Liebenzell. Kneeling in front of the altar of a chapel, both were sure they had been together before. They promised to search for each other through life and death, should they ever be parted. A terrible accident, resulting to the death of Anna Maria, tore them apart, setting the stage for a reunion some 25 years later, where a magical pendant with the lyre of Orpheus serves its purpose to bring the two lovers together again. The near-death experience revealed to Jacques his true identity, pulling away the obscuring shrouds of mournful memory to show him the woman of his dreams. Upon returning home after recovering from his accident, Jacques is faced with the complete disaster of his marriage. His alcoholic wife is destroying his life, and his children's life. Wishing the best for his family, Jacques sends his wife to the grace of God. Driven to near poverty after a long legal struggle for the custody of his children, he discovers a still more perfect gem - Anna Maria, miraculously returning in his hour of greatest need to rescue him from desperation. Around her neck is the pendant with the lyre of Orpheus he had given her all those years before... Years after, Jacques and Anna Maria moved to his Greek island. It is here that he discovers a poem, written by his father. It reveals at long last his father's deep love for him, liberating him from the burden of hatred that has pressed on him all his sinful life. Too late to rekindle a relationship with his deceased father, Jacques moves forward to share his message with the world: a message of hope, and redemption. A poignant, gripping tale of fathers, friendship, loss and love, mystery and adventure,"e;Tears of Steel"e; offers profound insights into our most personal relationships. "e;Tears of Steel"e; will not change your life but it will show you that pure love is the only path to immortality.
2 The Nature of Courage
True faith can move more than mountains; it can take Eternity as a hostage, and we all have more faith than we think.
The 747 glided swiftly across the calm waters of the Ionian Sea, its shadow like a playful dolphin skimming the surface. Shortly, it would slide across the shorelines of Italy, flying first over Brindisi, then Bari, with its final destination being Montreal and then Toronto. It seemed as though it too was in a hurry to leave Greece behind, Jacques thought to himself, as he turned his watch back and politely asked the young woman sitting next to him to draw the blind of the small aircraft window. She was an attractive woman, nearing thirty, with the classic curve of Hellenic features lining her handsome face.
“Is the sun bothering you, sir?” she asked him in Greek.
‘No, the view of Italy bothers me’, he thought sardonically to himself, but responded with a smile and a slight nod of his head instead.
Unaware of his mood, the young lady removed the earphones, placed the magazine she was holding back into the seat pocket with a determined motion and, after pulling the blind down, turned to him and said
“I have noticed that you’ve changed the time on your watch. What's the time difference between Greece and Canada?”
“Montreal is seven hours behind Greece,” he answered politely.
“This is my first trip to North America,” she said as she took the expensive but modest watch off her dainty wrist and looked at it. She seemed to Jacques to be sophisticated and elegant, yet, at the same time she somehow possessed a childlike innocence.
“So, if the time in Greece is now 1 pm, I should turn it back to 6 am — is that correct?” she asked, turning to him with a questioning smile playing over her striking features.
He agreed and, persuaded by her eager smile, decided, although he was not in the mood for small talk, that a conversation with a pretty woman was far better than an internal dialogue with one’s ugly memories.
“Do you have relatives in Canada?” he asked with genuine interest.
“I have an uncle there. He is a professor at the University of Western in London. But I am going to Montreal for my master’s. Perhaps I will move to London, Ontario, after I complete my studies.”
Without waiting for a response from him she continued,
“How strange it is that there is also a London in Canada!”
“Yes, we have many cities with corresponding European names. In Ontario alone, there is London, Paris, Zürich, Vienna, and Warsaw; there are also many with Greek names too; Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thessalon, and Marathon. There are so many I can’t even think of them all.” he responded with a chuckle.
“It seems to me that we Greeks leave tracks behind us wherever we go,” a patriotic flash in her beautiful green brown eyes.
“You are right. People say that you can surely find two things in even the most remote places.”
“And what might they be?”
“Volkswagens and Greeks.”
They both laughed and he offered his hand as he judged this moment to be an appropriate one to introduce himself:
“My name is Jacques. I live in Barrie, Ontario — at least, when I am not travelling that is.”
“Glad to meet you, Jacques. My name is Katia Stefanidou. I am from the island of Samos, but, for the last few years, I have lived in Thessalonica while completing my studies, and to be honest, I hope that I never have to return to Samos.”
“Oh? Are you having relationship problems?”
He asked. For some reason he could think of no problem this divine Greek beauty could be having other than those of a relationship - and he was right - but not in the way he'd expected.
“Parent problems,” she answered. She hesitated for a few minutes, evaluating his interest when she spotted the instantaneous flash of concern on Jacques face, and continued,
“I am a grown woman, Jacques. I am almost thirty, well educated, speak three languages and I have a degree in medicine. Yet the only life I have lived so far rotates like a satellite around the problems of my parents. That's why I’ve decided to go abroad. I just don't want to be in Greece anymore. I don't want to deal with my parents and their problems.”
Jacques did not answer right away. He took time to evaluate what she had said and finally answered.
“Hmm, I understand you very well.”
He really did understand her. Many years ago, he too had left his island behind for similar reasons, with the decision never to return. This was only the second time he had been back for a very short visit in over twenty years, hoping that things would be different, that something would have changed, at least in his home. To his disappointment, he found his mother to be as stubborn, indifferent, and demeaning as ever. In his city, however, there were many changes indeed. The small town he remembered was now a faded photograph in a history book. It had become grotesquely crowded with apartment buildings. The fields, where he used to play with his friends, had been invaded by cement and steel atrocities and his beloved nautical club was now little more than a mud hole. The old neighborhoods had ceased to smell of basil, the shores had lost their smell of sweet sea air; the people had ceased to smell of compassion and the quality of kindness and kindred spirit.
The song of the distant fisherman that once used to slide over the dazzling placidity of the Aegean Sea had yielded to the clamorous dissonance of radios blaring in a line of cars that drove back and forth on the shoreline to no apparent purpose but the paraded conceit of those particularly tedious category of men who believe some large part their worth depends on what others think of their car.
The café in the center of the waterfront, once used by the island’s wisest men as a place to exchange profound ideas, had replaced its traditional straw chairs with plastic ones. Perhaps these new plastic chairs were more tolerant of the second-rate plastic hokum dialogues of the new patrons; even the language they spoke had been replaced by an ineloquent and simplified version of the Greek he had known from childhood. The new patrons, with their unforgivable linguistic limitations, had one topic that goaded them to frenzies of articulation as they hollered back and forth at one another: the burning question of rights. Personal rights, political rights, religious rights, worker’s rights, students’ rights... as though the other half of the equation, the value of responsibilities, had been buried along with the prose and poetry of the language spoken by the wise men of past years.
Katia, noticing his silence, understood that something was on his mind, and did not interrupt his thoughts until he had returned once again to the present. He turned now to look at her. In her face he could see the subtle trace of her own troubles, carved in the delicate creases around her almond-shaped eyes. He could also see a hint of fear, fear he guessed, of the unknown that awaited her. This kind of fear was well known to him. He had experienced it some twenty years before, when, as a teenager, he'd left Greece to pursue his studies in Germany, leaving behind friends, family and everything familiar.
“Are you afraid of the unknown that awaits you in Canada?” he asked her.
She considered his question for a moment before answering.
“Yes, I am a little scared of the unknown in my new life, but mostly I am afraid that my parents may decide to get a divorce now that I am away from them, and the guilt that that would cause me would be unbearable. The thought of it just spins around in my mind ceaselessly. It is almost paralyzing! Then I start to think: What if my parents cannot work through their problems on their own? What if, because I am not there for my mother to call every day, she may die? What if I am making the wrong decision by leaving? Ugh, it is exasperating! Sometimes I wonder if it would be better for everyone if I gave up on my studies and went back home to help my parents. Has that ever happened to you — your mind sticking to ‘what-if thoughts’ you just can’t escape?”
Jacques smiled knowingly and answered,
“This, Katia, is something that happens to all of us. But you can’t dwell on these types of thoughts. They only lead you to doubt, to fear and to more 'what-ifs', nailing you down in the end to the only choice you can make with conviction — apathy.”
“That is exactly what I mean. I am plagued with doubts about whether or not my decision to get an education was the right one. I wonder whether I would have been better off if I had just followed my mother’s advice and married right after high school. Maybe then, I would not have the insight or knowledge that comes with an education. I would just be a simple, ignorant island girl, and I would not then judge my parents. Maybe all this would have been so much easier.”
“Well, yes, it is certain that education gives us the ability to judge things differently and to identify situations and problems...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 31.5.2015 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Lyrik / Dramatik ► Dramatik / Theater |
| Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität | |
| Geisteswissenschaften | |
| ISBN-10 | 960-92778-5-3 / 9609277853 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-960-92778-5-3 / 9789609277853 |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
EPUB (Ohne DRM)Größe: 512 KB
Digital Rights Management: ohne DRM
Dieses eBook enthält kein DRM oder Kopierschutz. Eine Weitergabe an Dritte ist jedoch rechtlich nicht zulässig, weil Sie beim Kauf nur die Rechte an der persönlichen Nutzung erwerben.
Dateiformat: EPUB (Electronic Publication)
EPUB ist ein offener Standard für eBooks und eignet sich besonders zur Darstellung von Belletristik und Sachbüchern. Der Fließtext wird dynamisch an die Display- und Schriftgröße angepasst. Auch für mobile Lesegeräte ist EPUB daher gut geeignet.
Systemvoraussetzungen:
PC/Mac: Mit einem PC oder Mac können Sie dieses eBook lesen. Sie benötigen dafür die kostenlose Software Adobe Digital Editions.
eReader: Dieses eBook kann mit (fast) allen eBook-Readern gelesen werden. Mit dem amazon-Kindle ist es aber nicht kompatibel.
Smartphone/Tablet: Egal ob Apple oder Android, dieses eBook können Sie lesen. Sie benötigen dafür eine kostenlose App.
Geräteliste und zusätzliche Hinweise
Buying eBooks from abroad
For tax law reasons we can sell eBooks just within Germany and Switzerland. Regrettably we cannot fulfill eBook-orders from other countries.
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
