A Town Named Marlinton

Sleep didn’t come easy that night, but it had never come easy. There was always the price, the price he had to pay to quiet the voices that whispered in his ears. He opened his eyes and looked up, analyzing the ceiling while arguing with the voices. “I don’t want to… I just want to sl-” He protested, but they interrupted. “Come on, we’ll let you take a long nap.” He sighed. His hands shook as he forced himself out of his warm bed.

Pattering down the hallway, he stopped to look at the old grandfather clock. 12:10. He opened the small glass door to the clock’s pendulums, wincing as it creaked open. He dug around the pendulums in the darkness, until his fingers closed around his only friend, and he hastily pulled him out. Storing him in his pocket, the man turned and slowly drug his feet across the living room. He unlocked his front door and stepped outside.

Inhaling the night air and squinting at the street lamps, the man muttered something under his breath. Nothing in English, it was purely gibberish. It obviously meant something to him, because he slowly turned and started counting the houses. Until he got to the twelfth one which made him abruptly stop.

His hands shook, badly, as he stared at the small house. Nothing about it screamed important. It was white-washed with a small picket fence, matching its neighbors. The only difference was the garden filled with red roses, but that was no reason… No reason… For the life of him, the man couldn’t remember who lived there, and why… Why?

Because.

He sighed and walked towards the home, his bare feet gently padding against the street. The street lamps illuminated his profile, but he had no shadow. It didn’t seem to bother the man, all he wanted was some peace, quiet, and sleep.

Sleep...

The world went black and white, but he didn’t mind. There was no reason to protest, because there was no gray in an earth like this. Only yin and yang as they swirled together, constantly fighting. Yet after time passed, no one knew where yin began and where yang ended. Their tactics had become the same. The light, the dark… There was no difference. And finally, finally- The world was perfect.

 He smiled as the world faded around him. There was liquid running down his cheek, but it was cool against his overheated skin and after a while... He couldn't feel it at all.