David was an average man with an average life. He followed his daily and weekly routines to a T. Wake up at 8 am on the dot, shower, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, and go to work at the office from 9-5. Coming home to work some more on his laptop, eat dinner, and go to bed. On Saturdays, he would walk to the park at noon and come home around 3 pm.
He wasn't unhappy, per se. He didn’t have the energy to feel anything strongly. His life was... fine. A series of mildly pleasant moments, a dull routine, and a slow crawl toward the inevitable.
This Saturday, David woke up and took his walk to the park as usual. Silent and slow. There was a shadow over the morning. Even though the weather was pleasant, David’s world felt grey. His morning had lacked what little life his Saturdays normally held. The vibrant colors of the park had faded into shades of grey. Even the sunshine around him felt grey.
David had been walking for quite a while when he realized the rumbling in his stomach that usually cued him to wrap up his walk had never come. Nor had the periodic bouts of thirst that caused him to pause at a water fountain. Stillness hit him then. The cool breeze that so often rustled his hair and cooled his brow had disappeared. In its place was a stillness. The air around him had become oppressively heavy and lifeless. He then looked around for possibly the first time in months and realized there was no water fountain, no trees, no benches, just bland grey grass and a boring grey sky. Had he wandered to the wrong park while being so wrapped in his mind? Looking around, he noticed another difference in this park. His normal park, or any normal park for that matter, was full of lively people, some walking dogs, others with small children, and usually a few avid runners. But here, everyone was moving slowly and with no emotion whatsoever. He tried to retrace his steps to figure out what led him here, but David couldn’t recall. In fact, he couldn’t recall anything from that morning. He remembered going to sleep the night before, but the next thing he knew, he was walking through the gates of this park, totally oblivious to the fact that his regular park didn’t have gates and these gates he had to push to get through.
David wandered through the drab of a park some more, finding nothing but grass until he reached a ledge. He looked down and heard nothing but screams of agony. He watched as people were writhing in pain as small imps tortured them with various whips, chains, and weapons.
Horrified, he ran in the opposite direction until the space around him got even darker than before. He looked up to see a floating island that dazzled with light and music. Here, the breeze that had been lacking from his day returned. There were signs of color, and a brightness enveloped his mind. These changes did not happen around him, nor even in his general area; they spilled over from the island above.
David wanted to stay here, to revel in the light and calm of the island overhead, but something told him that he couldn’t. Unsure of the reason, he slowly backed away from the color and joy of the island, promising himself that he would remember where it was and that when he had figured things out, he would return. For now, he felt he must retreat. He needed to separate from the dark and the light. He wandered the barren field for what seemed like eternity. As he looked up at the dark grey sky, he finally realized where he was. But he never learned what killed him.