What’s the Color of Your Existential Abyss?
by SulagnaMisra
What was the last book you read?
1. A comfort.
2. A masterpiece.
3. A disappointment.
4. A story now stitched into your psyche.
5. A tale that still makes you ball up your hands into fists.
6. A whole other place.
When was the last time you danced?
1. Around an awkward situation.
2. With a goal in mind.
3. Waiting in line.
4. I don’t dance.
5. Around other people dancing.
6. In my head.
What was the last article of clothing you bought?
1. Covering.
2. Revealing.
3. Accentuating.
4. An investment.
5. Just a little too small/big/long/short.
6. Basic.
What is the last animal you touched?
1. Something soft and warm.
2. Something dead, open.
3. Something yours, even if it’s kind of a jerk.
4. Something like you, on purpose.
5. Something like you, because you live in a crushingly crowded city.
6. Something that breathes hot against your skin, but is actually a dead piece of metal.
What was the last music you heard?
1. The squeal of trains on tracks or the baritone of tires on road.
2. The staccato of sneakers, the gongs of heels, the slaps of feet on ground.
3. The roar of people, airplanes, or silence.
4. The drumbeat of your heart in your ears.
5. The whisper of skin on fabric, or the snaps of fabric moving on skin.
6. The climax of a conflict with several years’ to minutes’ worth of buildup.
What was the last meal you ate?
1. You don’t remember.
2. A little something quick.
3. A practice in self-control.
4. A lapse in self-control.
5. A mish-mash based on a scavenger hunt in your home.
6. Something you remember quite well, the thought of which dances on your tongue and leaves an ache in your gut.
Who last spoke to you?
1. An author, long-dead or well-alive.
2. Your old self.
3. Something beautiful.
4. A stranger.
5. Your reflection.
6. A label.
Answer Key:
Mostly 1’s: Your existential abyss is purple with specks of orange light winking on and off in the dark.
Mostly 2’s: Your existential abyss is pitch black, illuminated by a bright light and the roar of strong winds howling through it.
Mostly 3’s: Your existential abyss is white with streaks of the lightest limes and bleached yellows, with an inky blackness at the periphery.
Mostly 4’s: Your existential abyss is a raw red, but it smells fragrant and intoxicating, something you can’t quite place.
Mostly 5’s: Your existential abyss is a blooming blue, freckled and edged with spikes of green and orange, like a tropical flower.
Mostly 6’s: Your existential abyss is furnished in lush pinks and blue commingling to a comely purple, so bright you can almost taste it.
Sulagna Misra is writer living on the Internet who likes to stare into space. You can follow her here or here.