The Pen-Proof Fool

Fred looked about. The pen provided all that he needed to live, except for a reason to live. There were the insipid white blocks of food, piled on a polished granite tables. There was a small fountain of brackish water percolating through the center of these tables, and down a trough that lead to a drain channeled on the marble floor. Fred took a sip of this water, and found it very hard, with a distinct taste of iron. There was also a pit that was used as a latrine, with a strong coppery smell overwhelming the stench that latrines usually have. The walls were high, with a ceiling that vaulted high in the air. The ceiling appeared to be brass, and rays of light darted from slits in the ribs of the vault, throwing a strange pattern of alternating light and shadow on the ground.

The most noticable thing about the pen was the people in it. Fred looked in their eyes, and it appeared that their souls had been drained away. They just stared into space, eating the white blocks of food, drinking the brackish water, and entering and leaving the coppery latrine. Irena noticed this as well. She tried to charm one young man into giving either giving her more information or at least some valuables. Old habits die hard. She batted her eyes, smiled her most seductive smile - and got little more than a shrug of the shoulders.

Fred had little better luck with the more direct method of asking questions to another man, about thirty. Although he looked to be hale and healthy, he would give little more than one word answers, or silence. There only seemed to be one person with a spark of life in the pen. He was a slender man, wearing an patchwork cloak, tunic, and breeches. He was barefoot, but unusually clean and well-groomed, considering the conditions in the pen. Fred and Irena approached him.

"Who are you, sir?" Irena asked.

"Don't you hate it when someone answers a question with a question, my lady?" the man answered.

Irena frowned, not knowing what to make of this. The man smiled, and pointed two index fingers at Irena, as if to say "Gotcha!"

After the silence, the man continued, "I am little more than a fool, but I am also wise. For I earned my bread by being a fool, while others give it away for free."

"I certainly hope that you are not casting any reflections on us," Fred replied, not happy at the man's response.

"A fool is not a mirror, so I can cast no reflections. Although mirrors can fool, you know."

"Where do you come from?" asked an exasperated Irena.

"I know not where I am from, or where I am going. I just am. No fooling."

"Sir, we were captured by the golems. Irena and I want to leave, or at least survive with our sanity. We need help. Can you give us a simple answer?"

"Ah, sir, at court I always gave simple answers, as befits a fool. But," said the man, lowering his voice, "Daniel the Fool learned a long time ago that to stay sane here one must be insane, or Daniel will go insane and lose his sanity. It sounds crazy, but mark me well, good sir."

"I don't understand you," replied Fred.

"Sir, I do not care if you understand me or not, as long as the golems do not. They give me the special treatment, as they do not understand, and think they miss the cause. Sir, and Lady Irena, if you do not want to end up like poor Bill here," Daniel said, pointing to the young man Irena tried to talk to earlier, "I can help. Come by the tune of June at full moon", he said, pointing to the pit. "And remember, if you aren't crazy, you're crazy!" Daniel laughs loudly and walks away.

"Not much of a choice, Fred. You either become a zombie or you go insane," Irena observed.

"I wonder how insane Daniel really is? And what the 'tune of June at full moon' means, if it isn't just babble?"

Fred was starting to feel faint. Even the tasteless white blocks would be better than starving. Irena joined him in a joyless meal. After the meal, they found empty spots on the hard ground, and fell sleep. They are awakened prematurely by

1. someone in the latrine, singing off-key.
2. a pair of silvery mockingbirds whistling to them.

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