Midnight

Can you keep a secret? The real answer is no, no one can. Secrets do not belong to us and are not ours to be kept. One might try to keep a secret hidden from one specific person or might fight all urges to reveal an unknown fact to a group of people. The secrets we hide from ourselves are the most powerful, since we are, probably, not even aware of them. But sooner or later those secrets will be awakened, maybe in centuries, years, days or just minutes of being revealed to us. I will tell you a story full of secrets but will not yet reveal any of them. I will let them sleep and hide a bit longer.

There is a city, on the other side of the world, where all lights are turned off at midnight. No one in the city remembers why they do it -and I will not tell either- but they have always done so. One night, a man walked the streets of this city near midnight. The streets were not yet empty, and people walked about. A few couples even held hands as the navigated the alleys, avenues and bridges. Light flowed through the city like the blood that carries life in a body. The man appeared to be like any other, walked just like you would expect him to walk and even seemed to fit in this beautiful scene as much as everyone. This man, however, was full of secrets. So much so that he was almost a secret himself, one that had awakened and decided to go for a night walk. In many ways he was the city’s secret. He belonged to it as much as any secret can be anyone’s. And so everyone saw him, but none really cared.

This man walked on until he reached the heart of the city, where all buildings were old and low, with streets of stone and gravel, and small businesses and stores thrived on their legacy and history. He moved without hurrying; every step was deliberate. He walked by an old water well that had been always empty, a bridge that no one had ever crossed and finally through one of the city’s parks. It was not the biggest nor oldest. Neither was it the most famous, but it was the one the man walked through that night.

It was 10 minutes until midnight. The man stopped walking, shortly after leaving the park, and listened to the city’s whispers. The last of the people in the streets were rushing home, ready to follow the same routine they always had. Doors were closed, windows were shut and locked, but no lights were turned off. Not yet anyway. The man that was now alone stood before an old building. It was tall and narrow, with a great archway on the front and great, dark stone doors to match. The door and walls were plain, but they still stood out from all others in the city.

5 minutes until midnight. The man contemplated the building, wondering how he had never seen it before, or how it was that none other saw it now. From the back of the structure rose a single tower, that reached into the night sky. The man bent his head back in order to see the top. He could see a glint of silver there, a reflection of the life of the city. A single silver bell hung silent and waited. The man wondered what it would sound like. How strange it was to think he had lived his entire life in the city without knowing…

1 minute until midnight. The man in the heart of the city was now nervous. Not because he did not know what would happen next, but because he did. It was a secret, after all, and now that he had awakened it, there was no turning back. It was not his secret, or at least not his to keep or tell, nevertheless the man was now a part of it.

1 second until midnight. All light in the city vanished. Like a well rehearsed choreography, every candle, lamp, furnace, and fireplace were snuff out just at the right moment. The world seemed to be suddenly bigger and fuller. The man stood still, without blinking or breathing, waiting in the dark.

The silver bell rung once, at the top of the tower, but only one person in the city heard its loud, deep toll. It was midnight. The man waited, but nothing seemed to happen. There was something strange around him, but he could not figure out what it was. His eyes did not adjust to the dark, and he could not see anything but that which was in front of him. His limbs were frozen in their place, he could not move. The air was colder and thicker, and the sound of the bell was not fading away but stretching and growing and reaching out to him. And yet, the man did not notice. He noticed nothing, except the woman in front of him.

She was much taller than him, very pale, almost transparent, dressed all in black. She stood in the middle of the street, just a few steps ahead, slowly moving towards him. Every step she took was a torment to him, like she was an illusion that would fade away when her bare feet touched the ground. When she was within arm’s reach, he realized he could see through her and into another place, one that he had never imagined could exist.

Then the woman spoke, and her voice was raw and melodic. He did not understand her words, but somehow, he knew what they meant. “Yes”, answered the man. Or he would have, if he could have moved his mouth or made a sound at all. But she understood, just like he had, and she raised her hand to touch his chest. She let her hand rest there, weightless. Then she spoke once more, but this time they were words he could understand.

“Now you know, now you understand. But there is so much more beyond the veil of night”. She looked into his eyes, and the man understood. It was midnight, and the city was dark. It would continue to be this way until she was gone. He wanted to speak, to scream and curse and praise. But that was not how this worked, and he understood now what would come next, if he so chose. Then there would be light again. “You must now make a choice,” said the woman, and her voice chilled him to his bones. She moved one step away from him and spoke one final time. And her question echoed through the city, and beyond it.

Midnight passed. Some of the city’s dwellers lighted their candles and lamps once more. Other let the darkness sit a bit longer. The moment was over, and it was a new day in the old city. The streets were now empty. The man who had been there was gone. The city was quiet, but the echo of a question still hung in the air and within the stone, wood and concrete. The woman’s question was the soul and core of the city. Do you wish to know what she asked? Well, then…

Can you keep a secret?