sounds of their voices

the insanity. insanity. insanity. insanity.
insanity. insanity. insanity. insanity.

picture this. the deepest, darkest ring of hell in dante's inferno. a man sits in a corner of a small, bare room. sitting in front of him around a rectangluar table is a group of people talking endlessly. their voices are droll, monotone, filled with jargin, complete nonsense. the reel of conversaton is about six hours long. then, it rewinds and it starts all over again. and again. and again. and again.

the sound of their voices impresses the people around the table. their chests swell with pride at their knowledge as the dialogue moves from topic to topic. despite the length of dialogue, there are only four or five topics to discuss. still, they stretch the topics. on and on. on and on. from one end to the other, each person puts in his or her two cents worth. they all nod in understanding, smile, agree, and continue the rattle of conversation.

they love the sound of their voices.

the man in the corner cringes as the voices rise and fall. he huddles tightly, placing his head hear his knees. his arms are wrapped around his legs. he shudders.

in his head all else has been wiped clean. anything he learned and loved is gone. every image he ever saw, sound heard, thing smelled, object touched and food tasted are erased. there is nothing but an empty void in his cavernous mind.

the void will be filled. slowly. slowly. over time. it will be filled with their conversation. the never-ending reel will play in his mind over and over again until all the recesses of is brain are filled with it.

near his ordeal's end around the sixth hour, for one split second as the reel winds down, he lifts his head in what could be conscrued as relief. he lifts his head higher. as he relaxes, though, their is a whir. and the tape begins to play again. he lowered his head once more. the sounds of their voices ehcoing madly in his head, terroring his every moment with mundane conversation.

it's his punishment. he must endure this until...until. he must endure it.

sinsanity. insanity. insanity in the sounds of their voices.