In a shabby overlooked building in the heart of a busy city a man�s heart was breaking. He was alone, in the shop as in his beliefs.
    How could anyone willingly forget what life really is?
    He watched as another victim of his sales happily sacrificed his freedom.
    Why am I doing this to myself? Why, the question that had haunted him sense the beginning.
    Everyone that walked into his store and bought his only product would die because of it. The product consumed them and made them unable to help themselves at all.
    He looked across to the door opposite him. Nothing could be heard of the hundreds of bodies lying on their cots. The nurses had all gone home; they came once every day to make sure that the tubes where still forcing the tasteless mush and stale water down the �veggies� throats.
    He wrenched his thoughts away from the door and focused instead on the devices the government had required be built in years ago.
    Everything came back to him, his product and death.
    To understand that though you must know the product. It was relatively simple for the age, it was a pair of goggles that went over the eyes and connected to pads that covered the temples. Effectively it was a hologram that was, to the user, completely real. The goggles created a virtual reality for that person, or more truly their reality. It made a world around them, their perfect world.
    When the product fist came out the images in their heads made them want to walk so desperately that they actually regained use of their legs. In complete ignorance they threw themselves off bridges like they could fly.
    The public had affectionately dubbed them Sleepwalkers. These days though there were no more sleepwalkers. The device kept them from �sleepwalking�.
    He remembered when the deliverymen came and he had them clear out all the illegal goggles.

    Billy went into the shabby looking shop. He stood on the threshold gazing at the worn out man behind the desk.
    He looked expectantly at Billy with a touch of sadness in his expression. The man reminded Billy of a time with warmth, caring, and love; a time of gentle caresses and lowered voices. Stepping into the store the cold reality of his life hit him and the pervious thoughts were lost.
    When Billy came up to the desk the man with the sad eyes said �You know what we sell?�
    Billy tried to nod his head, but was jerky and unnatural. The man looked at him for a long moment with compassion in his eyes. Billy wished he would stop.
    Fidgeting Billy asked �Aren�t there some papers to sign?�
    Like a light suddenly turned off at Billy�s question the sadness was erased from that man�s eyes as he rustled around in his desk. Billy was almost sad when the man handed him the papers with blank eyes with nothing to say to him besides �Sign these.�
    �All of them?� Billy asked startled.
    �Yeah, just hurry up and sign.� The man said. He didn�t even look at Billy any more.
    Feeling rejected Billy picked up the pen. What right does he have to make me feel so stupid? I just wanted to get this over with! With distain that he hoped the man noticed he signed quickly and handed the papers to the shopkeeper.
    The shopkeeper checked the papers and when he was satisfied he took out a box and handed it to Billy.
    �Thanks.� Billy murmured as he stumbled to the door shaky with excitement. As soon as he saw the inside Billy froze. Looking over the rows of stationary bodies his excitement died. He felt like he was being smothered, he couldn�t breathe.
    Physically Billy made himself relax. He deepened his breathing and unclenched his jaw. He scanned the room for an empty bed; he spotted one near the end of the room.
    Billy dreaded walking past all the unnaturally still bodies. He looked over at the face of one of the bodies, he saw himself there, his skin deathly pale, barley breathing. As reached the empty bad he stuck the pads over his temples and passed into his next life.

    The storekeeper was almost home by the time that he realized his mistake. Just when he thought that he was safe misery struck again.
    The last customer for the day, a young man, he had given him a box but he couldn�t remember checking for the government stamp. Looking back on the moment the storekeeper couldn�t remember seeing a stamp at all.
    That could only mean one thing, he had given him illegal goggles.
    He was in a lot of trouble and so was that boy.

    Gone, all gone. Floating in an eternal dream, no sick father, no abusive mother, and no workers to beat him up.
    But best of all he wasn�t even thinking of their absence, to him they had never been and never would be. Billy was gone beyond recall.
    Floating in blackness, part of nothing Billy was free.
    Just then a light appeared; it was beautiful. It rippled like he was underwater looking up at it. It changed color to a soft yellow that beckoned him to come. He tried to move but he found he couldn�t. The yellow was then overwhelmed by a bright red. Billy was overcome with dread, something was wrong.
    Why red? Is it unhappy? Tell me what to do! Please, don�t be sad.
    The bright red was infected with a blood red as the light swirled furiously. He tried to move again and he moved forward slowly. It was like walking against a tide.

    In the quiet room of the shabby home, Billy�s unconscious mind guided him out of the home and straight out the door.
    In the busy mainstream the shopkeeper was franticly trying to reach Billy before the unthinkable happened for the very last time.

    Moving was easier now but Billy was getting tired. The light had faded to a golden orange, now it looked like it was pulsing.
    It felt like eternity. In his heart Billy knew it would not be much longer soon he could reach the light and be content forever.
    Billy walked and walked. A feeling of urgency took over and he moved twice as fast. The urgency nearly overwhelmed him.
    He knew just a few more steps.
    Just a couple more steps.
    Just one more step.

    The shopkeeper arrived at the bridge, as soon as he saw the crowed he knew what they were looking at. Just in time, just in time to see Billy balanced on the very edge. The shopkeeper shouted and ran. Shouting at the stupid people who stared openly with their empty eyes as he begged them to do something. They just turned their dead eyes on him unmoving.
    He knew it was though, through for him, for these people, for that kid. Sleepwalkers were loathed by the public so much that no one moved as they watched Billy waver, topple forward and fall.
    Only the shopkeeper saw the happiness that covered Billy�s face as he willingly embraced his death. He knew what he was doing and loved it.
    Billy�s face stayed with the shopkeeper even hours after they all heard the sickening impact of flesh on pavement. What was once a living thinking person was now nothing other than a broken body.
    Billy�s face stayed with him until the night when all the people had left. It stayed with him while he sat on the sidewalk and wept for the world.

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