Noodles

The souls (what else could they be?) drifted along unknowing how they had arrived in this place. In death they were surprised to find existence continued. It was a odd place they found themselves in. Shade 22 grey in every direction, no bright spots, no shadows. The only clue of up/down ground was the other ’people’.

After what may have been eternity they knew each other fairly well. Each life and death story re-told many times and often repeated. All told there were three hundred and twenty three.

Once common theme was the time of death. They quickly discovered they had met their various ends in early July 2006. The cause of these deaths were also equally connected. Each has been in the CBD of the same city. They had been engaged in various activities but the end was alarmingly similar.

As you might expect there were a few old acquaintances and most had friends or relatives of friends of relatives of acquaintances in common. There was even a husband and wife and one of their children (even though they had been in different places at the time of death).

So the conversations got quite stale and many slumped into introverted sulks. As happens a few of the group thrived in this strange circumstance. They joined and explored using the central knot of huddled humanity as a land mark, there was nothing else.

Though they walked for many days those that remained in the central group always appeared as constant dots in the distance. The return the journey only ever taking a few hours.

Not even sleep punctuated the existence. Although every one tried none reported any success at this form of escape.

One woman said she felt on the edge of a discovery while practicing deep meditation. This created a minor sensation amongst the group and in a desperate attempt to alleviate the encroaching madness most desperately tried to learn the self control required to enter a deep trance.

In the ensuing weeks (but no one was sure) several of the group disappeared. They had obviously discovered an escape route. No one had seen the events but it was self evident to the remaining group. They reviewed what they had spoken of with the departed and formulated a plan. Before an attempt was made the person would tell another what method they planned to use. If they escaped then this would be disseminated amongst the rest.

It was a good plan and through discovery all but 12 made the transition. The twelve remained. There was nothing exceptional about them of this they were sure. They represented a fair average of the departed.

Frustration built and madness came. One by one they retreated into curled up balls. Grey was only interrupted by occasional sobs or screams.

There was no point.