Absence

The Hole

When you walk down The Street and take the second right turn, then walk forwards about fifty paces, you will see Hole. Hole will be almost perfectly round, and may warp your vision for a few seconds. You may feel nauseous or queasy. All of this is perfectly normal. There is no need to panic or run away as you all seem to do when faced with a fear. Keep the adrenaline in check: it is the only way you will be able to succeed in the task that has been thrust upon your weak, fragile frame. It is likely at this point that a deep, existential fear may begin to seep into your mind through the pores in your skin. It may feel cold, and you may begin, paradoxically, sweating. Hole may also seem to be getting both smaller and bigger simultaneously; entrapping your vision and fading out of mind. All of this is perfectly normal. There is no need to panic. As you stand there, experiencing these relatively minor side- effects it is important to remember that none of these are permanent, and that your mind may be liable to falter when experiencing these. The above may last for quite some time (time may sometimes seem to warp and, rather rebelliously, change direction, attempting to be free of its universal constraints, so the exact time standing there may range from a few minutes to a few aeons) but we would like to stress that it will eventually end. After this, one of two things may occur:

  1. Your world around may slowly fade down to a deformed television-static of a palette of uncountable, undiscovered
colours and miscellaneous lines and abstract shapes, all mixed into a sort of heterogeneous world of entropy. It has not been confirmed what happens after this. or, in 98% of scenarios: 2. In a blink of an eye, Hole may enlarge to fill up your entire field of view, surrounding you with an overpowering darkness and urge to die, sometimes accompanied with a sudden bout of nihilism, though this can be treated with the small purple pills™ that can be found in your blue and yellow checked shirt’s top- left pocket and inserted into the ear, allowing them to politely ask your brain to calm down. DO NOT TAKE MORE THAN THE RECOMMENDED DOSAGE OF THE SMALL PURPLE PILL™. You may hear a small, slightly annoyed, muffled voice for the next few seconds As it is likely that you will experience the second scenario, the rest of this information will be in regards to the second scenario. Once Hole has completely enveloped you, it is recommended that you close your eyes and attempt to clear your mind of all banal and otherwise inconsequential tasks in preparation for the last few steps of the process. As you do this, Hole will squirm into your neuron clusters and slide through your hippocampus, eventually settling in your medulla (in rare cases, the prefrontal cortex may be colonised, in which case you may forget where you are and what you are doing). Your feeble human brain may attempt to prevent the next step, through generating a flurry of purposeless thoughts about a range of topics (family matters, ex- lovers and ovens are some common things for participants to think about at this moment), but attempt to ward these off. If this is especially hard you can treat these disagreeable thoughts with the small green pills™ found in your blue and yellow checked shirt’s top-right pocket. When you are compelled by Hole, calm your mind once again.

And open your eyes.