The Seventh Life : Baptism by fire

Prologue – Birth and Destiny In a snow-covered, war-torn village, at the very moment when an entire epoch collapses, a child is born. Pavle comes into the world paralyzed, silent, with nothing but eyes that pierce through the darkness. His mother, Vera, a widow with nothing but her willpower, is left to fight alone against the doctors’ verdicts, the villagers’ judgment, and her own fears. While everyone claims the boy won’t survive, Vera carries him as her cross. She feeds him with love stronger than hunger, hope stronger than despair. In her arms, Pavle is not merely a child—he is the promise that life can endure even when everything else is being torn apart. Behind them, the collapse of Yugoslavia spreads like an open wound. Bombs, borders, and betrayals unravel nations, while Vera and Pavle fight a quieter, but no less profound battle: survival itself. --- Childhood and First Victories Against all odds, Pavle lifts his fragile body. At the age of ten, he takes his first step. Every movement of his legs resounds as a victory against destiny. His earliest heroes are not athletes on TV, but the village children—Emir and Marko, friends who see him not as disabled, but as a brother. The village fields, dusty and uneven, become his first arenas. The patched-up ball is his weapon, laughter his anthem. And in the midst of these days stands Sofija, a girl whose gaze becomes his first recognition, his first quiet fire of courage. --- Belgrade and the Hidden Training When war finally devours his childhood, Pavle is pushed into Belgrade. The city does not greet him with open arms. Poor and invisible, he becomes a shadow—cleaning sports halls, carrying bags, collecting scraps. While others practice on polished courts, Pavle watches in silence, memorizing every move, every pass, every shot. But at night, when the lights go out, he enters the empty gyms barefoot. Alone, he trains until his lungs burn and his knees collapse. His hunger is not only for food, but for existence itself. He dreams of the day when the crowd will chant his name, though now he is nothing but a ghost sweeping their arenas. Years of hunger and obscurity do not break him—they forge him. --- The Derby and America Destiny finally reveals itself in a single, historic Belgrade derby. An injured player leaves a sudden gap, and Pavle is called in. The crowd first laughs, then falls silent, and finally roars. The boy who once learned to walk at ten now plays with the force of inevitability. In that game, Pavle does not simply score points—he conquers hearts, headlines, and history. America opens its doors. Los Angeles becomes both dream and curse. Under blinding lights, Pavle dazzles, his name rising across stadiums. But behind the glamour lies a merciless truth. His manager John and the club president lure him into a net of doping, temptation, and corruption. Pavle realizes that fame can be a cage, and victory a poison. --- Fame, Fall, and Redemption The higher he rises, the harder he falls. Without the chemicals, his body falters. With them, his soul begins to rot. At the breaking point, on a bridge above the dark waters, Pavle chooses to end it all. But the river does not kill him—it transforms him. Beings of light—The Architect and Archangel Michael—reveal themselves through a vision. Through the sacrifice and faith of a young woman, Ivana, the polluted waters turn into a stream of providence. Pavle emerges alive, cleansed, yet fragile. Without doping, he cannot keep up. Without money, he is discarded. Without glory, he is forgotten. All that remains is a man—bare, broken, and searching. --- Moscow – A New Chance Exiled from America, Pavle journeys to Moscow. The city is cold, unforgiving, but there he encounters Emir again—his childhood friend, now a deacon. Emir teaches him that prayer is not for personal victories, but for the salvation of others. Slowly, Pavle learns to train again—not for applause, not for fame, but for himself. Sofija, his childhood flame, returns to his life. With her, and with new companions, Pavle begins to glimpse a different path. On the grand stage of Moscow’s Luzhniki Arena, Pavle reaches the height of his career: he wins the Euroleague. The crowd roars, the lights shine brighter than ever. And yet, inside him remains a void. A hero on the outside, but within, still a man lost in search of meaning. --- Climax and Promise of Continuation Just when victory seems complete, the shadows return. John and the bodyguard appear, demanding ten million euros—or blood. The past Pavle thought buried now demands its debt. He stands at a crossroads: surrender to the darkness once again, or step into a new light. The Seventh Life – Part I ends not with triumph or tragedy, but with a question: What does it truly mean to live? This is not merely the journey of a boy from a village to global arenas. It is the journey of all humanity—our battle with temptation, with loss, with the fragile line between light and shadow. Part II promises an even greater spectacle, not of one man’s struggle, but of the collective soul’s fight for redemption. This is not the story of one nation. This is the story of humanity.