Sand swelled about a central axis, spiralling upward and out into the distant stars. Into infinite depths, the grains stretched and distorted as they reached into nothing. Ariel stood at the mouth of the abyss, looking towards it both upward and downward; directionality diffused. The dunes that Ariel had trekked to that point were as expansive as the abyss before her, yet no time had passed since she began her journey to the abyss from which she stood. Motivations blurred, memories faded. She could not say how or why she was at the abyss, only that it defied her expectations. Of what she could not say.
A man approached her from the dunes.
"It won't go away." He said, "no matter how long you look at it."
Ariel looked back at the man. He was missing a leg, a hunk of scrap metal in its place.
"Turning away don't do no good neither. Just gotta let it be." He continued.
"How did we get here?" Ariel finally asked, as she turned back to the abyss.
"Doesn't matter. We're here now."
"How long did it take to get here?"
"Weeks? Years? Doesn't matter. We're here now."
Ariel kept looking into the abyss. She thought she saw her father's face, but it was gone too quick for her to be sure.
The man hobbled next to her, reaching his hand out, letting the grains surround his fingers. The sands grounded down his skin to the bone. He smiled. Removing his hand, the skin regrew.
"You shouldn't hurt yourself like that" Ariel said, rubbing her fingers to make sure they were still there.
"It only hurts for a bit. I like how it feels. Got any water?"
Ariel passed the man her canteen. He took a swig and passed it along to a woman behind him, who took a swig, and passed it to a man behind her, and so on into an endless line into the dunes.
"I didn't see them there." Ariel said.
"They're all here to see what's in the abyss." The man said, "They all know they're gonna reach it, but each of them secretly believe they won't."
"I didn't think I'd be here." Ariel said, realizing at once where she had been.
Alone in her apartment overlooking the metropolis, she read texts she sent to her dad before he died. She thought about what she would say to him. How she would extend the time they had so she couldn't say she wasted it. She came to the conclusion that the time would always have been wasted, as no single act would be enough. Then she was in the desert, wondering forever. Then she was at the abyss, staring forever. Then she was talking to the man.
"Now you're here. What do ya feel about it?"
Ariel kept her gaze firm onto the abyss, her expression unchanging. "I feel nothing." She said.
"I don't feel much, either. Maybe I should go back home." The man said.
"I should too." Ariel replied.
A choir of voices cried out at once in agreement. The line from start to finish knew they didn't belong. That their place was in the metropolis. Or the fields. Or the waves. Or in the dunes far back. None belonged in the abyss.
"We all end up here it seems." Ariel said, "no one wants to be here, but we have to arrive sometime."
"I thought I'd see my wife. I thouht I saw her. I don't think I did. I just wanted to see her so I saw her." The man said.
"I thought I saw my dad." Ariel replied.
The abyss swelled, and called out towards the man. His name was with the sands but unheared by Ariel.
"Suppose I should head in now. Thanks for the talk." The man then approached the abyss. Before Ariel could stop him, he stepped into it, and vanished into the sand.
"How did I get here?" Asked the woman who came from behind the man.
Ariel looked at her. She was missing an eye.
"I'm not sure. Its different for everyone. But we all end up here."
"Is my son in there? I want to see my son!" The woman said, "please let me see my son."
"I thought I saw my dad. Maybe he's in there."
"Let me through, I need to see him!" The woman pushed Ariel asside and plunged into the sand. She was gone before Ariel had a chance to stop her.
Then came another man, this one old, and missing an arm.
"Can you help me get back home? I'm not sure how I got here."
"Me neither. Home may as well be here now." Ariel replied.
"Oh, I see." Said the old man, "Was it you that gave me that water? Thank you for that."
Ariel nodded, before dipping a finger into the sand. The skin tore from the bones, but Ariel felt nothing. When she pulled her hand from the abyss, the skin grew back in an instant, and with it came a rush of pain, which ran down the length of her arm and into her heart. She realized then that the pain doesn't exist in the sand. No flesh, only bone. Perhaps too the bones would go if she stayed longer, but she didn't care. No pain, no time, no direction. Nothing existed within. Her father wasn't there, even if she wanted him to be. Neither was the man looking for his wife, or the woman looking for her son."
"Who are you looking for?" Ariel asked the old man.
The old man laughed, "I don't have anyone to look for. I just wanna find home."
"This is home now." Ariel said, before putting her hand back into the sands. She wanted to test her theory that the bones would go too.
"Should you be doing that?" The old man asked.
"It feels nice." Ariel replied.
Ariel observed as the flesh reduced to bone, and bone reduced to nothing. When she pulled her hand back, the bone grew back, then the flesh, and with it, even more pain than she had imagined. She shoved her hand back in to remove the pain.
"Maybe home is at the end of the line?" The old man said, "oh but my legs hurt. I'm so tired. I don't think I can make the journey. I've been here for so long already."
"All we have is the sand." Ariel said, before allowing the rest of her body to be consumed by the swelling dunes. First her flesh was gone. Then her bones. Then she too was gone.
Back