She looked away, “I know it must be difficult, it’s just… This all sounds very strange. Nothing in the town is doing this? There has been absolutely no one able to figure this out? Doctors? Scientists?”
“Anyone who has tried, I have no idea about. We are only a small group in this already small town, in the end, the majority rules over silencing our voices. I suppose we have a few theories to go off of, but it’s really nonconsequential. Once I got here, I tried to find out a few things, but I came up short in any conclusions. It’s still a mystery with more questions than answers. Though, the only discovery we have is that when we try to leave, the feeling comes back. It’s a spectacle that no one has been able to figure out, but it hasn’t hurt anyone.”
“No wonder they think it’s a weird conspiracy, to keep people in town like that… Do you think it affects the same people? Like, did we all come from the same place, just to be led here?”
“Not sure. I came from too big of a city, the same is said for a few others, probably even the same as you, I’d imagine. Us older folk seem to not have to worry about the how or why. I live for Blacken’s community, it’s all I’ve ever dreamt about, it is a great little town for finding yourself and I think a lot of folks see it that way. I can’t speak for everyone, of course, but I’d rather have the vibration that led me here on the back burner while I got to enjoy the convenience of simple living.”
“Jim, this thing that brought us here, with no one in town able to ask what’s causing it… Do you think they’re keeping it a secret?”
“I have no idea. I still have as much information on this as you do, Miss. Conrad,” he chuckled, downing the rest of his beverage.
Her mind was reeling, why wouldn’t people want to know more? Things couldn’t have led her here just to live in a small town. The populace seemed older, less driven so it would make sense that they just left well enough alone. But what about the kids? Were they stopped just by the others who preached religion or even tradition? Were the two parties fighting out in a conspiracy against each other?
“You said that it’s been a while since people who experienced this came in. How many usually come to live in Blacken?”
“People came in every month or so, left the same way too.”
“They can leave? How can they when—I mean, I thought you had said…” she trailed off, not understanding even further.
Jim chortled, in the same flippant nature a parent would give to a child asking a silly question, “Like I said, it’s a mystery with more questions than answers. But some of the others can leave without it, I figure they return home because they had the same drumming buzz to do so or leave to another town. Who knows? In either case, they don’t stay long.”
“So, there are people that come and go with this. Has anyone asked them what they did so that it doesn’t come back?”
“Well, some people have tried. Some of ‘em built bridges here, and those close to them have tried to get into contact… but they can’t. It’s as though they started a whole new life, I never knew anyone who has left, really, but I would like to know what goes through their head when they do. Have you contacted your family since coming here?”
She stopped, feeling embarrassed. Avie hadn’t even thought about it, even though they may not even bat an eye as they had when she moved to the city. They didn’t need to know, however what Jim said was making sense, maybe the affected population that came in and out didn’t have very many people connected to them, as she did. Maybe that was the connecting factor?
“No, I don’t really have anyone.”
“Then you’re like most of us. We don’t have a lot that we left, though some do, could be all coincidental though. People build lives here, the community is great, you’ll be making friends in no time. There are, however, plenty of people who don’t know what this situation was like, and they don’t like hearing about it. It’s been a long time since another came in, you may be the talk of the town, Avie.”
She looked away, a small flush tickled at the back of her neck from the thought of people talking about her en masse, “Did you ever notice how long people like us usually stay then?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve noticed people can be here for the rest of their lives, but they also come in a lot older than you. They stay for a number of weeks at least if they do leave. If the sensation comes to people at random, it probably lets them go the same way. In any case, I don’t question it, it’s not like it’s a big deal if it leads people here to Blacken of all places.”
More questions burned in her mind, the more information she was given by Jim, the more she wanted to figure out what exactly was going on in town, why the phenomenon was happening, why it wasn’t seen as a bigger deal by the townsfolk, why it led people in just to let them go?
“I’ve seen that look, just be careful asking around, it can be awful if you push too hard. I can try to answer any questions you may have. For now, I hope you stay a while. Blacken is very hospitable.”
She nodded; not sure what else she could ask. The young
