The Annotated Afterlife

16. A Bit of a Soulmate Situation

Quote
It's from Plato's Symposium, which includes the definitive description of soulmates as two halves of one whole. Plato specifies that soulmates can either be male-female, male-male, or female-female. Although there's plenty to pick apart in his philosophy, the line about the pair of them being "lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy" is perfect.

Soulmates in the Afterlife
Pete and Viv explain what it's like to actually discover your soulmate in the Afterlife. Once they both arrived Forward, they recognised each other as their soulmate instantly. It only needed their eyes to meet - the eyes being the windows of the soul, so it is said.

Pete and Viv knew each other very well on Earth – they were good friends for a long time, without, apparently, any clue that they were soulmates. This is, of course, a little nod to Julian and Noel, who have also been good friends for a long time.

The story does not say whether Pete and Viv were heterosexual, gay, or bi on Earth, and that's basically because it just doesn't matter. Sexuality is something for Earth, and doesn't really exist in the Afterlife. You are bound to your soulmate, who might be of the opposite or the same sex, and that's it. You might be heterosexual on Earth, but in the Afterlife, your soulmate may well be the same sex, and you would be perfectly blissful to be with them. That's because your love for them is of the eternal soul, and not the body.

Another point is that once soulmates have gone Forward and found each other, they are able to recognise when others are soulmates as well. Pete and Viv were able to see that Julian and Noel were soulmates (they were allowed into the tea room for a start), but didn't think anything of it at first, because they didn't realise that Julian and Noel were new arrivals. As they'd just come from the Hall of Mirrors, Pete presumably thought that they were workers there. 

Soulmates and Death
Pete and Viv also explain that soulmates nearly always die close together. This is based on a real life phenomenon called The Widowhood Effect or Broken Heart Syndrome, where your risk of dying increases by two-thirds in the three months following the loss of a spouse. The stress of losing your life partner can actually kill – sometimes directly, with a heart attack.

It seems to be relatively common for people to tell you that their parents or grandparents both died within a short period. My parents died five months apart, for example. Occasionally these stories are quite remarkable – somebody told me about their mother's death at a relatively young age, being hit by a car while she was riding her bicycle. Her father died two years later, from the same cause.

Pete and Viv were killed in the same car crash – presumably in the same car, as they were already close friends. This comes from the film Withnail and I, when Withnail (Vivian) drives on the motorway with dangerously reckless abandon; he doesn't have a license and is blind drunk on top of it. This possibly suggests Pete and Viv died in 1969, the year in which the film takes place, meaning they have been in the Afterlife for 23 years (and probably at the Waystation for more than 10).

Julian is naturally horrorstruck to learn about soulmates dying close together, as Noel's death followed so closely after Julian's drowning.

Soulmates Reading Each Other's Minds
Pete and Viv tell Julian and Noel that soulmates can read each other's minds – Julian and Noel have already had this happen to them a few times.

Again, this is based on a real phenomenon, that most couples are able to read each other's minds. Psychologists call this "empathetic accuracy", as mind-reading sounds a bit woo-woo, but that's essentially what it means. In fact, brain scans have shown that some couples actually have brains working in sync, or, as scientists say, they are "physiologically attuned".

Pete and Viv make it clear that once soulmates go Forward, this natural ability, which is partial and piecemeal on Earth, becomes total and all-encompassing, as soulmates share their minds, hearts, souls and bodies without limits. In retrospect, this has a bit of a Twilight series vibe ... 

The Problem
Viv in particular is perturbed that Julian and Noel did not meet on Earth during their previous life, but only after they met at the Waystation. There is a superstition that this will cause many problems for them - "Meet at the Waystation, prepare for separation". I based this on the many examples of rhyming English aphorisms eg Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.

Slightly unbelievably (Julian has trouble believing it), this aphorism about the Waystation seemingly arose after just one example of it occurring! However, Pete and Viv are adamant that's how serious the situation was.

Despite this dire warning, Julian and Noel's Case Workers seem to be okay with their relationship, and most people they've encountered at the Waystation seem accepting of it or have actively encouraged them. This might suggest that they actually know more about it than Pete and Viv, who are "ordinary" Waystation workers.

This Chapter
Gosh, these are very short, dry chapter notes! Maybe it was a short, dry chapter.

However, Chapter 16 is the preparation for Chapter 17. I took as my inspiration that part of classic fantasy novels (the D&D kind) where the party inevitably has to pass time in a wayside inn filled with dodgy types. And of course they are soon joined by a grizzled old ranger/ tracker / bounty hunter /adventurer /monster killer /mysterious stranger who gives them the lowdown on the Forbidden Mountains/ Temple of Gargaro'th/ Lord Farnor's Lost Treasure/ Cirestian Dragons or whatever it is they are searching for.

Only instead of swilling mead in a wild wayside inn, Julian and Noel are having a cup of tea at a nice inner-city café. And instead of some grizzled old stranger, they get a couple of fairly pleasant young bakers who are concerned about them. But it's the same basic info dump by unexpected strangers who are oddly invested in somebody else's lives.