By the end of June 2013, the many hardships I had endured had left me utterly exhausted. For a long time, I had felt unable to cope with them on my own. One day, I sat down on the floor by the balcony and decided to try reaching out to God through prayer. For me, it was a way to lay my soul bare, express everything that had built up inside me, and direct that inner impulse outward. I did not know how to pray or what words to use, so I simply spoke from my heart. I asked forgiveness for any sins or mistakes I might have committed, recalling and laying before God even the smallest deeds and words: perhaps at some point I had expressed myself poorly and unintentionally hurt someone, boasted too much, or taken pride in something I should not have. I was filled with doubt, but I continued to ask the Lord to hear me and give me an answer if He existed. I felt that I was on the edge and was searching for at least some glimmer of hope. As I continued to pray, I did not even notice when exhaustion overcame me and I fell asleep right there on the floor.
Before long, I found myself in a vast hall full of people: some were sitting at tables, while others were standing or walking around the room. At first, I did not realize that I was dreaming. As I passed the tables, I suddenly noticed a girl sitting at one of them. She smiled and waved at me. I waved back and said:
“Hi.”
She looked at me in surprise and asked:
“Can you see me?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Excellent!” she said with delight.
She got up from the table, came over to me, and suggested:
“Then let’s go and meet everyone.”
“Where?” I asked.
“To meet all of us.”
“Who do you mean—all of you?” I asked in surprise.
She led me across the hall, past the rows of tables, into an open area. There, we approached three people I did not know. The girl gestured toward them and said:
“All of us. We are your guardian angels. Right now, you are asleep at home.”
I was stunned:
“What do you mean, asleep? What do you mean, guardian angels? Real ones?”
“Yes, we are real angels.”
Then she began introducing them one by one. She pointed to one of them and said:
“He is responsible for your courage and resourcefulness.”
Then she pointed to another and said:
“And this is our king. He is responsible for how good you are at programming.”
Finally, she pointed to an elderly man and said:
“And this old man is responsible for your smoking and drinking. But we have already learned how to deal with him, so it does not concern us too much anymore.”
The angels told me that they were responsible for my safety and helped me along my path in life.
I was overwhelmed and said:
“Do you realize that you are making me believe in something I have doubted until now?”
“Yes, but we had no other choice,” they replied. “Otherwise, we could not get through to you.”
Then they invited me to ask any questions I had about my life. I began:
“Who are Vasya and Zhenya?”
“Oh, they are just ordinary criminals.”
“Why did I need them in my life?”
“Because of everything you went through in dealing with them, you became stronger in spirit.”
I agreed and continued:
“And what about the training course I attended in May 2012? Where did that come from?”
One of the angels replied:
“Oh, that was my idea. We urgently needed to find some way to pull you out of that crisis.”
“I see,” I responded.
Then I asked:
“And Nadya? What about Nadya?”
“Well, we messed up a little there.”
“Then I need to go to her and tell her everything,” I replied.
They said:
“Igor, we do not have time for that right now. We have a great deal of work to do. God ordered us to train you for a year and two hundred hours. Stop drifting, smile, and everything will be fine.”
After we had talked, the angels suggested:
“Why don’t we go flying?”
They took me by the hands, and we rose into the air, soaring over the city. It was an incredible feeling of freedom and lightness. But then clouds appeared, and we had to descend. The angels explained:
“We cannot fly in the rain. When it rains, we rest.”
I thought in wonder, “This is all so interesting and amazing.”
We waited for a little while until the clouds began to disperse. When a bright light appeared on the horizon, the angels once again took me by the hands, and we rose into the air. We flew toward it, and with every passing moment it grew brighter and closer, until it blinded me. At that very instant, I awoke on the floor by the balcony. I lay there, stunned by what had happened. It did not feel like an ordinary dream: everything had seemed far too real, as though I had experienced something more than a mere nighttime vision.
The first person with whom I shared this dream was Nikolai P. To my surprise, my story genuinely interested him. After listening to me, Nikolai P. said:
“You see? I told you: believe in God, place your hope in Him, and remain open to His support. You asked for an answer—and God answered you. You are an extraordinary person. Extraordinary people sometimes experience things similar to what you have gone through and are still going through.”
