Razor-thin was the skyline. The point where the tips of buildings met the sky was divinely concise, like nature's television was boasting it's shiny new high-definition channel. The indescribable red of the sky met the shadows of the buildings at a point of existential beauty. One building in this Metropolis skyline rose majestically above the rest, enter David's Heart. David's Heart was as much a part of Metropolis as any of the city's residents. It was an indelible member of the community, the omnipresent patriarch of the young city. Towering over the rest of the skyline, emanating a distinct aura unlike any other seen in the city, an aura of longevity and stature, of unmistakable history and for it's fellow residents of Metropolis, a strange sense of comfort. Standing at the foundation of David's Heart was a ritual for any member of the Metropolis community. As soon as one can walk, they are taken by their caretakers to the tower's base. All the young eyes of Metropolis are enchanted at a tender age by the massive charisma of the tower, and their heart's are captivated by the feelings that the tower evokes in all of the residents. Daniel Greene (NP*) was one of these children. A child of the tower. Today, he stands, hunched over on the flat of the tower's roof. His scruffy brown hair and the corners of his dirty beige trench coat were flailing around, abused by the wind. Due to the altitude and the terrorizing winds, his eyeballs became bone-dry within seconds if he ever attempted to open them without squinting. Daniel
(NP*) looked down at the city. The city in which he was born. The streets upon which he played as a child. The buildings that he peeped in and out of throughout his life. His mother's house, his brother Nathan's (NP*) house, his school, and the church with the metal steeple which he found so innocently charming, were all lain before him. They were under him, in his total view and before his very hands. From where he was, these structures all seemed so tiny and so unmistakably gray. They were so familiar to Daniel, (NP*) however at this point, they were the most unpleasant of strangers to him. Daniel Greene, (NP*) a young boy of Metropolis, now grown into middle-aged man; looking down at the gray concrete upon which he stood many years ago as a child, open-mouthed in awe of the great tower, stood upon the apex of this very object of admiration with intentions that he would have never thought his mind to contain. Nothing ran through Daniel's (NP*) head but perception. His senses were overwhelmed by his current habitat. He became an exuberant sponge of a man, taking in nature's every hint and processing it as nothing more than sight. His mind could do nothing more than this. In the moments on top of David's Heart, Daniel (NP*) knew not positive from negative, right from wrong, or pleasure from pain. His intention of jumping off the tower onto the unforgiving street below was now nothing more than an impossibility; for that would involve action. He could get himself to do nothing now, only breathing and seeing was at this point, remotely possible. Back on the ground, Daniel (NP*) wanted nothing more but to jump off the tower and end his life; but here, things seemed different. He couldn't figure out why they were different, he could only see and feel the difference. This difference kept him from activity, kept him from thinking, and ultimately kept him from living out his intentions. Daniel (NP*) stood for several hours, a mini eternity, upon the roof of the tower, wind ripping at his skin and sounds of the city flooding his ears. He did this until he, with a seemingly involuntary motion turned around, his back toward the city lights, and walked silently down the thousands of interior steps leading to the base of the tower. Mind free from emotion or contemplation, Daniel (NP*) reached the bottom of the tower, approached the ever-so-familiar revolving front doors, and exited; his senses welcoming the streets and the pavement that he had trodden hundreds of times before. Upon sensing this he stumbled home, eyes only on the gray concrete, and never once looking upward at his current whereabouts. He passed no one upon his trek, as he arrived at the front door of his humble, worn-down apartment. He entered, without a glance at the door. He climbed the wooden stairs, each of their creaking calls sending a shooting pain to Daniel's (NP*) mind. As he finally approached the door to his living quarters, agonized, mystified, and insane, he paused for a few seconds, and turned the knob. Without a thought in his mind, Daniel (NP*) collapsed upon his bed. In the city, a streetlight burned out, a car crashed into a telephone pole, and a woman kissed her baby's forehead, all at the same time as Daniel (NP*) hit his sheets. Something happened at this moment, something strangely unique to this moment. And most importantly, Daniel (NP*) regained his ability to think. And so he thought of what he just did, thought about what he felt at the top of the tower, and thought of reasons to justify why he just lived through another night of the same routine; losing his mind on David's Heart.
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