My painting of life…
A giant cylindrical pit, reaching upwards eternally, and every soul who has ever existed is thrown into it. At first it was chaotic: everyone clambered for the top, pulling others down in order to push themselves up. People screaming in pain, clawing in desperation, contorted, eternally struggling, and rarely achieving the fresh air on top (and even then it usually didn’t last long). So it went for millenia, the endless struggle and limited satisfaction, the crushing weight, the gravity and the eternal pulling. Some resigned themselves to the bottom, some struggled continuously, and no one was free from the wrenching pain.
After a long time of struggling in this way, some of the souls near the top had an idea: what if we braced ourselves along the wall? If a large group formed a ring around the outer wall, they could all support one another, and all enjoy the fresh air of the top. So the topmost souls did this, the ones beneath them cooperating because they recognized the possibility of eventually being a part of this ring. The souls on the outside underneath the original ring also formed a circular brace along the wall, and the souls within that circle climbed up and formed a ring on top of the original one.
They proceeded this way until millions of souls had aligned themselves against the walls. There were disasters: many would fall into the middle, bitter or uncooperative souls would try and tear the whole structure down, or large groups would become complacent and allow the intricate, intimate ring to fall apart through lack of maintenance and vigilance (taking their enviable position for granted or forgetting the pain of the pit and actually thinking it was preferable) . This never disturbed the continuous building and rebuilding of the outer wall, though.
And while the wall stood, those on it could continuously breath the cool fresh air, and enjoy the close companionship of their fellow souls, and talk and laugh and relax. They were as free as they could be, and they were as happy as they could be too. These poor sufferers had built a heaven on the back of perdition.