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The afterlife is interesting but disappointing. A couple of things may surprise you but not because you haven't heard of them before. 1) You do end up going very far below the ground. 2) There are flames, a constant blaze of them everywhere. But this sounds more exciting than it actually is. Fiery depths you would think would be stimulating, or at least exotic. They aren't. And it's not like they get old over time and that's why they are boring. No, it's pretty much ho-hum at first flicker.
The most interesting thing about the afterlife is the other people. Everyone has a story to tell. Plus nobody is the same. You might think you are a human but you aren't. Or if you are, there won't be any other humans in the afterlife with you. There was only one human in the afterlife last year and it was a girl named Suman. Nobody called her Suman the Human even though this was the obvious joke. People don't customarily call each other jokey names anyway in the afterlife. Presuming you are not human, here is one type of people you could be: something called a "goose-cat", which is a guardian of literature. The most frequent way most conversations are held between people in the afterlife is with spitting water. Many nuances of the language are determined by how the water is spat and at what quantity. Also: how the flames in the environment are affected. There are different terms. A "wink-out" shows anger. A "snuffie" is endearing. The amount of "squench" indicates degree. It should be pointed out that everyone has plenty of water with them at all times. The clothes you wear are basically just bags of water. This is what many ask when they are first introduced to the afterlife: Could you yell enough to douse all the flames? Could you orate away the inferno? Be some sort of Filibuster Fireman? The answer is no. The flames don't get permanently extinguished. There is some kind of fire-producing component in the material structure of the environment. Much of what you hear in the afterlife is fiction. There are a number of reasons for this. 1) People are still learning the language. They "squench" too much. Or don't expectorate enough of the water. This causes inaccurate content. And flights of fancy are more often pursued. 2) No one wants to tell the truth. Everyone has a story but no one has a story that is factual. 3) In the dousing language, it is more difficult to spit the truth. Practitioners of truth-telling must perfect their craft over great periods of time. The experts of this are respected but typically become outcasts. This is why people consult hermit sages. Steam is the linguistic mechanism of the truth discipline. Whether it is from naivety, inclination, or laziness, the people of the afterlife tell interesting stories. No one is arguing that the conversations aren't diverting. But you may have expected more from the whole happening. Also, having to learn a new language that didn't exist in your lifetime is off-putting and inconvenient. It is also a nuisance that the act of articulating actualities has such a steep learning curve and puts one at risk of being ostracized. There are more reasons why it is disappointing. 1) No one has been reunited with someone from his/her lifetime. 2) You can't talk down a fire. 3) Water is no longer for drinking. |