Fable: The Ballad of Reason and Madness

There was once a nameless city, hidden among eternal mountains and shadows that drifted like restless dreams.

At its heart lived two twin brothers—Reason and Madness.

Their faces were identical, yet their natures could not have been more different. While Reason walked with eyes filled with logic and precision, Madness danced barefoot through the streets, laughing at everything his brother considered sacred.

One day, a king, tormented by his own thoughts, summoned them.

He suffered from a terrible curse: his mind had become a labyrinth of doubt where no certainty could remain for long.

The King asked that one of the brothers heal him.

"Choose me," said Reason, "and I will grant you perfect clarity. You will never again fear error, for you shall know every truth."

"Choose me," said Madness, "and I will set your soul free. You will never again be burdened by knowledge, because nothing will bind you to the need to understand."

The King hesitated.

To choose Reason meant becoming a servant of truth—and truth is not always beautiful.

To choose Madness meant freedom, but at the cost of sanity.

At last, he spoke.

"I choose the truth. I choose Reason."

Reason smiled and placed a hand upon the King's forehead.

In that instant, the King's mind expanded.

He saw everything.

He saw the lies hidden within his counselors.

He uncovered the secrets of his subjects.

He witnessed betrayals yet to come and the crimes long buried in the past.

He understood that his own kingdom had been built upon blood and illusion.

Truth pierced his soul like a blade of ice.

In despair, the King cried out,

"Madness! Release me from this!"

Madness laughed.

Then she embraced him.

And within her embrace, knowledge dissolved like morning mist beneath the rising sun.

The King forgot the burden of truth.

He forgot the past.

He forgot the future.

And together they danced—free and mad—until the end of time.

Upon the empty throne, Reason remained watching in silence.

He knew he would be summoned again.

For humanity forever sways between lucidity and madness, never truly belonging to either one.

By Ketty Williams