At a recent meeting of Narratives, our Writing Group, we workshopped a story that presented three souls meeting in a non-moving Purgatory elevator after death and subsequent incineration–oops, I mean cremation. One member, and I would have to guess either Catholic or Egyptian, had a problem with the ashes being refocused into a spirit, rather than using proper burial methods. Understandable, based on faith and beliefs so strongly ingrained within us, as death is an inevitable part of us from the moment we are born and it’s all just a matter of time.
Isn’t it odd, however, how we manage to overlook the obviousness of decomposition because our wishful thinking and mindset can overcome that which it does not want to see? Even the very popular TV show CSI doesn’t seem to be making a dent into fantasy–though it is a fantasy that focuses on a reality that we turn into fantasy in reality. Writers, of course, can have the clichéd field day with creating the death scenario, and always make the reader doubt his own beliefs.
Don’t need to take this further, I don’t think; but it may be wise to toss a jar of Oil of Olay into the grave.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology