There is a city called Omelas where all the citizens live perfectly fulfilled and happy lives. Buildings are beautiful, crops are plentiful, there is no disease, no crime, and no sorrow of any kind.
On the day they reach adulthood, every citizen is taken into the citadel, to a room in the basement. There, in the deepest dungeon, they find a child, malnourished and sick, chained against the wall, in the utmost misery a human being can endure. They know that if the child were comforted, if it were allowed to enjoy a solitary moment of happiness, that the beauty of the city above would crumble, and disease, crime and want would become a part of the peoples lives. For that reason, the child will never be allowed to leave by the city.
Every citizen in Omelas knows it is there, and they have all agreed to live with it. Occasionally, a citizen, man or woman, young or old, will walk through the gate on the edge of the city. They will venture into the desert that surrounds the city for as far as can be seen, walk over the horizon, and never be seen or heard from again.This is known as walking away