NOTES: This too randomly slipped out between writing up RP posts. No warnings on this one, besides the fact that it's cracked off the wall. It's a random original piece inspired by a conversation Sephy and I had while we were on vacation. Purgatory An Original Fiction by Amet All around her the crowed buzzed and bustled, an undulating chaos of solemn figures lost among the throng, moving as one mindless beast along the sterilized corridors of this way station to... Well, that was the question, wasn't it? She liked that description, buzzed. It--what was the word? Dehumanized them, painted them the insects that they were, wandering aimlessly along with utmost trust in brightly painted signs pointing them this way and that until they had no idea how many circles they were doubling back upon. That blind faith was rewarded with blisters and tired muscles as they ambled along heedlessly, lugging every manner of absurd baggage too 'precious' to be abandoned despite the discomfort those weights caused as they strove towards their imagined destination. True, it wasn't exactly the tenth circle of hell, but these weren't exactly the damned departed anyway. These were more pathetic than that, the stragglers that hadn't been terribly commendable or condemnable in their lifetimes who without fail seemed content to wait around for someone to direct them to their 'reward' as soon as their tickets were punched. So they roamed, unwilling and unable to leave, herded from one section of purgatory to another by their own misguided search for some imagined destination and that drive had long since erased the necessity for people like her to do much more than sit back and watch their disgusting little dance as eternity ticked by without much more in the way of amusement than a few well placed patently ridiculous guidelines set in place just to see if their 'passengers' would bend to them. The amusement flitted away when they unerringly did. Once, she imagined she might have felt sorry for these souls, so unaware of their own situation and the peril they were placed in, the demons that walked among them as wolves amongst the flock and dragged them down past the point of real contrition as their mounting frustration made them susceptible to suggestion. But she knew they were warned, recorded, canned messages reverberating tinnily across uncomfortable plastic seats in overcrowded rest areas and soon all sense of remorse was drowned out by the sheer force of their ignorance in the face of every effort that was made on their behalf. What did it matter to her if one of the hundreds of millions who walked through those gates every year went a different way than another? In the end, did it make much difference to the fabric of the universe? She hoped not, given the crowd's shared IQ. She watched as it shifted and parted obediently as a fellow worker ambled past. He nodded amiably at her, waving his badge and she unlocked an unremarkable door set into the wall just past her console. He was one of Them, the ones who took those lucky souls back into the Outside, and she tamped down a wave of bitterness as he strutted away, oblivious to her frustration as he prepared to take this batch of pests from her sight. They were looking hopeful now, bloodshot eyes turned towards her in renewed faith as they spotted the other worker disappearing down the narrow hall and she flicked on her microphone, leaning forward. "Welcome to American Airlines, flight 403 with nonstop service to..." These days she didn't even have to think as she recited the spiel that would put them through their paces before they were released to their fate. ----- END NOTES: Trust me, spend as much time in an airport as we did on our last trip and you start to think you're stuck in Purgatory. ^^;;; return to splash page