since the oblivians , for all their vivid imagining , didnt believe in an afterlife of either sumptuous reward or everlasting punishment , they invested no place with every pleasure , dread , hope and wonderment of life , so that over the centuries and despite its name , it evolved from a vague concept to an actual place , where everything was so different it resembled a dream : something that flees the mind even as it stirs within it the vibrant pangs of fear or desire .