A mortal's journey to The Next is not typically a linear one.
Time is a fickle thing once you move up into the higher dimensions, nearly meaningless, tangled up in space and with no true order.
Thus the soul is often lost in that initial tide. That first retreat from the physical into the quantum, is not measured in time, but in Feelings.
All the warmth they ever felt, for example. Many beings cling to that particular Condensate. Warmth was there at the first for mammals, and it is to where many retreat.
First being a relative term of course, as all moments of "warmth" are experienced simultaneously, and for eternity as the new Consciousness comes to grips with its situation.
Eventually they will feel brave enough to experiment. Perhaps the Taste of food will entice them, for others it is every orgasim ever granted.
It doesn't matter what it is, so long as it happens. Nirvana has the potential to be a very lonely place, and nobody has time for introverts.
Warmth is boring, everyone has had it, and so sharing it is of little value. When you ascend to the 6th (or even 7th) your value is in your differences, for there are so few in the higher dimensions. As one approaches infinity, one inevitably starts to find overlap with the others on the same journey.
It is not known what happens to a Consciousness once they attain infinity, just that they are gone, and there is only light in all the places they once were.
It is assumed it is desirable, since everyone else is heading there. Not that one could stop the inevitable, were it discovered to be undesirable.
The flip side of entropy. While all matter moves towards a state of chaos, all Consciousness moves towards a state of infinity.
You did again! This climax of your short story is again so powerful, that it can be a new setting to write a multitude of stories in! Thanks for your entry.
Thank you, I wanted to write something slightly less ominous this time around haha.
I'm just so glad your contest is really taking off! I should probably devise one of my own!