Kazuo, stroke and parallel worlds.
In a smoky kitchen of a one-room apartment, smelling of stale coffee and cat food, a man sat. The kitchen was cluttered: dirty cups, plates with leftover food, and forgotten newspapers yellowed with age cluttered the table. On the wall hung an old calendar with an image of a sakura tree, capturing a distant April. He was forty-five and had long stopped counting the wrinkles on his face or noticing the gray creeping into his once-thick hair. His eyes, once bright and full of life, were now clouded with indifference. His name was Kazuo, and he was one of those people whom life seemed to pass by, leaving only crumbs of opportunities which he habitually missed.
Since school, Kazuo had been a talented guy. Teachers predicted a brilliant future for him, classmates cast admiring glances, and friends envied his abilities. He had a natural charm and ease in communication, opening doors to countless opportunities. But every time fate threw him a chance to succeed, he turned it down, citing the need to care for his disabled father. At those moments, he felt the weight of responsibility he bore and an inner struggle between duty and his dreams. In his heart, he always felt he was betraying himself, but the voice of reason constantly reminded him of his duty to his father.
Years passed, his father died, and Kazuo remained on the sidelines of life, working as a freelancer, barely making ends meet. His apartment, inherited from his parents, became his prison, where the walls pressed on him with memories of the past. He lived on convenience foods and only went to the store early in the morning to avoid unnecessary contact with people. Every morning he woke up with a heavy feeling of emptiness, knowing that his life was slipping away like water through his fingers.
One morning, Kazuo woke up with a sharp pain in his head. The room was dark, and only a faint light of the morning sun penetrated through the dirty windows. He tried to get up, but his legs wouldn’t obey him. The world around him swayed, and he lost consciousness.
He woke up in a hospital room, connected to life-support machines. The light from the ceiling lamps blinded his eyes, and the monotonous beeping of medical devices drowned out all other sounds. His head was heavy, and his body seemed not to belong to him. The doctor standing by his bed explained that he had had a stroke and miraculously survived. These words echoed in his mind, triggering a chain of memories.
Kazuo closed his eyes, and moments of his life surfaced before him. He remembered the day he was offered an internship at a prestigious company, and he declined, saying he couldn’t leave his father alone. Faces of classmates who persuaded him to join their business project came to life again in his memory, but he chose to stay in the shadows, fearing he wouldn’t manage. Another memory: a girl, in love with his talent, suggested moving to another city and starting a new life together. But he didn’t dare, tied to his fears and obligations.
All these moments were like fragments of films played out before his eyes. In each of them, he could have made a different choice but didn’t. He saw how he could have become a successful entrepreneur, a talented artist, or a happy husband, but each time he refused these opportunities. He even remembered that night when he wrote his first book, full of hopes and ambitions, but never sent it to a publisher, fearing rejection.
Kazuo cried, realizing his life was almost over. Tears ran down his cheeks, mixing with drops of sweat. He cried not only from physical pain but also from the bitterness of missed opportunities, regrets, and unfulfilled dreams. At that moment, it seemed to him that all his efforts, all his sacrifices, were in vain. But along with this came the realization that he was still alive, that he had the chance to change something if only he found the strength to get up and take the first step.
But he didn’t know that at the moment when he was unconscious, his brain experienced something incredible. As a result of the stroke, the part of the brain responsible for perceiving reality was temporarily paralyzed. This area, known as the posterior parietal cortex, plays a key role in integrating sensory information and forming our awareness of the current moment. The temporary paralysis of this part of the brain opened access to other dimensions, to parallel worlds where other versions of Kazuo made different choices.
Scientific research has shown that the human brain has an amazing ability to neuroplasticity — the ability to change its structure and functions in response to new experiences. In moments of extreme stress or trauma, the brain can seek alternative pathways to restore functions. In Kazuo’s case, this led to the activation of latent neural connections, which usually remain inactive.
One of these worlds turned out to be especially close. In it, Kazuo did not refuse the opportunities that life gave him. He built a successful career, created a chain of pizzerias, and became a wealthy and respected man. But in this world, he also suffered a stroke that affected the same part of his brain. Research in quantum physics and the theory of multiple worlds suggests that there are infinite variations of our reality, where every choice creates a new branch of events. These parallel worlds can intersect at moments of critical change or when the brain is in a state of heightened sensitivity.
At a moment of greatest vulnerability, the two worlds intersected, and Kazuo’s brain, like a sponge, absorbed some qualities of his successful counterpart. These were not specific knowledge or skills but rather an impulse, a push that broke down internal barriers and limitations. Neurobiologists call this phenomenon “synaptic adaptation,” when new neural pathways can form in response to strong external or internal stimuli.
When Kazuo woke up, the connection to the parallel world disappeared, but the changes in his brain remained. He did not immediately realize this, but gradually began to notice that his thoughts became clearer and his decisions bolder. This effect can be compared to a system reboot, where the old program is replaced by a new, more efficient one. Kazuo’s brain had the opportunity to start anew, using the impulses and confidence borrowed from his alternative “self.”
The first thing he did was clean his apartment, throwing away all the junk he had accumulated over the years. It was like a symbolic cleansing from the past, from those indecisive and fearful moments that held him back. Each discarded item freed up space not only in his home but also in his soul. Then he made a list of tasks he had long postponed: signing up for 3D modeling courses, starting to exercise, finding a new job. At that moment, Kazuo felt that life was beginning to fill with freshness, as if he had once again felt the aroma of morning air after a long, sleepless night.
He started small, but gradually his life began to change. Every day he moved forward, like a climber ascending to the summit. He created several successful projects in the field of augmented reality, which brought him a good income. These projects reflected his new state — a striving for innovation, for creating something beautiful and unique. He started eating right and exercising, and his body transformed. He felt strength and energy returning to him, filling every cell with vital light.
Soon, Kazuo met a girl named Midori. She was like a gentle spring breeze that brought joy and love into his life. They got married and had two children. These children became a symbol of his new beginning, his new life, now full of meaning and joy. He looked at their faces and saw the reflection of his own dreams and aspirations, which had now become reality.
Thus, Kazuo, who had undergone such an incredible journey in his mind, found a new life filled with meaning, love, and success. His story became a vivid example of how one moment, one event can change an entire life, directing it into a new course if one allows oneself to accept these changes and follow them.
Kazuo lived a long and happy life. He never learned that his success was partly due to a random contact with a parallel world, but it didn’t matter. The main thing was that he was able to overcome his fears and limitations and create the life he had always dreamed of. His days were filled with meaning, and he felt that he had finally found his place in this world. Every morning he woke up with a sense of gratitude for the second chance, for the opportunity to change his destiny. He often sat in his cozy home, listening to quiet melodies, and thought about how strangely life was arranged, how small coincidences could lead to great changes. He had built his life from scratch, brick by brick, and now he enjoyed the fruits of his labor.
After all, each of us is the sum of all the choices we make in life. Sometimes fate gives us a chance to change our path, and it’s important not to miss this moment. Even the smallest step can lead to big changes. Kazuo understood this, sitting by the river and watching the water flow by, inexorably and endlessly. He felt part of this flow, knowing that his life was like a river, with its bends and turns, with its turbulent waters and calm backwaters. And, reflecting on the past, he realized that every choice, every decision, even the seemingly insignificant ones, had shaped his present life. It was a journey of a lifetime, and he was grateful for every moment of it.
