A city called Snow
by
S_h1ros
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
S_h1ros on Smashwords
A city called Snow
Copyright © 2011 by S_h1ros
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A CITY CALLED SNOW
Chapter 1
Not everyone knows that there is a city called Snow, which still exists today, on a remote little island in a faraway sea.
This little city is completely white. The houses are white, the trees are white, the animals are white and even its citizens are white. For this reason they all wear sunglasses, all the time, yes they do, because otherwise everyone would have sore eyes because of the glaring brightness.
You should also know that in the city of Snow everyone is called Snow.
Now try and imagine the chaos when they have to talk to each other; “Excuse me Snow, have you seen Snow by any chance?” And never mind the schoolteachers; every time they call a pupil during the break, they all turn round, all of them!
The situation with documents in the Registry Office is even worse; all the documents are the same and when they go to report to the police for crossing a white traffic light, the policeman has no problem knowing the name of the culprit, but he still asks for his driving licence.
Oh yes, I forgot to tell you that colours don’t exist here, that’s why I told you about the traffic light and the white one at the top. It works like this; they know it’s green when the white light at the bottom is on; it’s yellow when the middle one is on and it’s red when it’s the one at the top.
At this point you will ask yourselves what colour are the sunglasses? Well, maybe you might not believe me, but they are white as well, including the lenses.
Now you’ll be wondering how it was that I ended up in this land and how I know so much about these fellow beings of ours, well that’s what I’m about to tell you. Make yourselves comfortable for a while and I'll begin.
I left for distant lands to search for some archaeological remains a good forty years ago, when I was still young and the museum I worked for was still open.
They gave me a ticket for a ship and I, as enthusiastic as I could ever be, embarked; my heart pounding with emotion and great self-belief. The voyage was supposed to last three months; in reality it lasted a few days, but I swear I will never forget it.
Having settled in the cabin that had been allocated to me, I sorted out the clothes I had bought with me, lay down to rest for a while and after that the only thing remember is finding myself laid out on a floating piece of wood barely conscious’ and being transported by a little boat that was completely white and driven by two strangers.
I felt the waves lightly caress my face as they hit the edge of the craft. One of my shoulders was very sore and when I came round I immediately thought how fortunate I had been; I was alive.
Yes, because I had immediately realized that the boat had sunk and that I, obviously, was a castaway.
We arrived on the coast of the island of Snow after how much time I couldn’t say precisely; in fact when we are not enjoying ourselves time goes slowly; imagine the difference between a really fun lesson and one that's so long and boring you would have time to grow a beard, even if you're not old enough to have one yet!
However, I was saying that we arrived on the coast of this little island and we were collected by some very kind and hospitable men. They took me in one of their white ambulances, mended my wounded shoulder and gave me food, drink and a bed. They were really kind, but I couldn’t understand why, every time I took off the sunglasses that they made me wear, the glare in the room hurt my eyes.
Seriously, I had never seen a hospital cleaner than that one, it should be an example for everyone.
I remained hospitalized for ten days and felt really comfortable there, they spoke my language even though they were foreigners and I had no problems of any kind, at least not until the day of my discharge from that lovely place.
It all started with my signature on my admission file. I could see that the paper was decidedly thicker than ours and that the letters were actually carved on top, all in white!
I asked the doctors for an explanation and they gave me one.
They told me that I was in the city of Snow, where everything was white and all the inhabitants had the same name as the city.
At first I was astounded, then I started to laugh thinking it was a joke; in the end they made me take off my sunglasses to look out of the window. Good grief if they weren’t right!
It really was all just as they had told me; imagine how I really had to squint to see anything, it was so white.
I turned to the doctors, really frightened by then, but they reassured me, telling me that they would bring me home as long as I would promise never to show anyone where the island was.
I left the room and noticed the paintings and photos hanging on the walls: They were all white and I asked for more explanations.
They told me to put my sunglasses back on; I could see the pictures. One of the doctors said crossly, “How do you expect to see things with the naked eye in such a bright glare?"
I left hospital accompanied by a lady with lovely white hair who must have been around thirty, one less problem I thought; not like us with our old age and hair-dyeing.
She took me to a lovely little house and, during the trip she told me to call her Snow - “I know, I know” - and that she worked for the hospital as an ambulance driver.
In a very short time I realized that it really was impossible to live without glasses and I didn't take them off again for the whole of my stay in the city.
My new friend Snow asked me if I came from the world of colours and what it was like to live there. I replied that it was much like living in Snow, but without glasses.
“All the same, I would so love to see some colours.” she said.
“I promise you that they are nothing special, really.” I replied.
It seemed wrong to tell her about the beauty of the flowers in spring or about the rainbow and yet I added that I would be very happy to welcome her to my home for a while if she would like.
She replied, a little saddened, that for her it would be impossible to come because of night and day, or to be more precise, Moon and Sun.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“I’ll explain”, she said.
So she explained everything clearly. Listen to what she told me; “Sun and Moon are our only enemies; in fact the Moon brings the night with her.”
“So?” I asked impatiently.
“So the Moon would kill us, because if she came it would bring the dark of the night; we would have less brightness in our city and consequently we would die”, she replied.
“Are you actually telling me that you cannot live without the brightness that comes from the white of your city and you yourselves?”
“Yes, exactly!”
“But why then do you say that Sun is your enemy? He brings the light!”
“The problem with Sun is that he cannot live alone, he needs Moon and also they are great friends”, she added.
“So you’re telling me that here in Snow, there is always light even when it isn’t daytime?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s exactly how it is.” We live without day or night, so in fact there is always light here, because it's all white", she said.
“But Sun and Moon know this?” I asked her and she said, “No, they don’t know, because from up there, when they look down towards our city, they see nothing but white; so they think that there is nothing here; that it is space.”
She concluded by telling me that their destiny was to live hidden from these two astral bodies, otherwise it would mean the end.
A few minutes after arriving at my new home, I said goodbye to Snow and she directed me to the door of the house. I rang the bell and the owner came to open the door.
I gave him my hand and shaking it, smiling, he said, “I am very pleased to welcome you to my home, my name is Snow.”
He showed me around the whole house and finally, my room. I talked for a long time with my new friend Snow about his habits and the way of life of the inhabitants of the city and I found out something that shocked me more than everything else.
What did Snow tell me? I’m sorry, you will find out later, because now I must tell you what happened between Sun and Moon just as I was talking to my host.
Chapter 2
In fact right at that moment, Sun, who was heating and illuminating the rest of the earth, turned his face toward the city of Snow and, instead of seeing nothing as he usually did, (because even from that height it was all so white that it seemed empty), he saw a strange little dark speck; me.
Immediately he asked himself what a human was doing all alone in that desolate land, deprived or everything and he decided to adjust his view, urged on by a great curiosity.
With a much closer view, he realized for the first time that there, in that void, there was a city and he was extremely shocked.