Full Eclipse At the Temple Of the Moon

I returned immediately, hoping to find a way across the chasm this time. Part of me hoped the rope bridge was part of a loop I had found, and it would be back to rights when I returned.

Much to my chagrin, when I arrived the bridge was no more, and there were some people around looking across the gulch. They took no interest in me, so I took none in them and went about the business of following the gash in the earth to find its end.

As I traveled, following the endless chasm on my right, the mist grew thicker. It was as if I was down by the river again. I peered through the fog and noticed some lights to my left, so I went to see what was going on there.

I crested a small hill and found there were people here, gathering, and the fog, rather than coming from the river as it normally does, was coming up out of the ground. There were periodic tremors, and more gas would release as the earth beneath our feet shook.

I was led, half-blind, up the stairs of a temple slowly crumbling back into the earth. The temple was beautiful, brilliant yellowish white with columns on the outside, and arches giving entrance to what appeared to be anterooms on the inside. There was a large statue in the center, I assumed in homage to a god I was unfamiliar with.

The mist inside the temple had a blueish hue to it, and floated about in thick plumes. The far interior of the temple appeared undisturbed by either fog or tremor, and people laid about on pillows and such, enjoying themselves, eating, drinking and conversing.

A harem of women danced around, wearing nearly sheer dresses, that seemed to simply flow away from their bodies as they moved, resembling the plumes of mist outside.

So I made myself comfortable on a pillow, and ate, drank and enjoyed myself along with everyone else. When in Rome they say. As the night progressed the shaking of the earth became more and more violent, and the bacchanal in the temple became more frenzied.



I won't go into further detail except to say that here, naked and drenched in wine, the people were draining the last bit of pleasure they could have in earthly form before they went onto the next plane. It appears in the next plane they are continuing to do so in a semi-endless loop. I still wonder if the rope bridge is part of this loop.

In retrospect, I believe these people completely conquered death. They knew it was coming, and by the time it could reach them they'd taken everything life had to offer. They'd taken all the juice, and left only the dry husk behind for the reaper. It was as if they were saying, fine, I'm done with it anyway.

Whatever religion that was, I would definitely be a supporter.