祝你千生千死,復次輪迴。
I wish you a thousand lifetimes and a thousand deaths.
末日來臨前的世界光景,盡是現在的我們得以想像的,殘破而被放棄經營的商店、呼籲活在當下的踰矩、害怕各種逝去的哭訴。
主角凱洛的選擇與親友或街頭的青年們大不相同,他扭頭躲開狂歡的派對,轉身投入明亮的辦公室,作為蒼白中微弱的黃色燭光,成為那群看似正常運作的上班族當中特別的存在。
這股以往被視作孤僻疏遠的特質,從同事眼中的怪異和情人眼中的魅力,逐漸轉成驅動所有人停下腳步的溫度,漸漸融化了所有人佯裝正常的生活方式。
《凱洛的末日日常 Carol & the End of the World》用末日預言展開了觀眾雄偉的想像空間,在被告知死亡之日時,我是否就能停止害怕死期的來臨,反而更能專注於眼前的事物,或是既然死期將至,我將展開從未想像過或一再逃避的新藍圖?凱洛陷入兩股壓力之間,成了不怎麼美味的夾心。對於「追尋」,凱洛在故事尾聲有了深刻體悟:
我發現我正站在我出發的原點,完美之處就在原點,是什麼變了?畢竟唯一不同的是我,我的追尋令我盲目,這段時間我一直在追尋根本無需尋找的浪。
I realized I was standing exactly where I started, and yet here it was, perfection. What had changed? After all, the only thing that was different was me. My search had blinded me. This whole time I was looking for waves that didn’t need to be found.
凱洛的這段覺醒,讓我想起電影《靈魂急轉彎 Soul》裡頭相似的魚的故事:
I heard this story about a fish.
He swims up to an older fish and says,
“I'm trying to find this thing they call 'the ocean.'”
“The ocean? the older fish says, “That's what you're in right now.”
“This?” says the young fish. “This is water. What I want is the ocean!”
在邁出追尋的腳步以前,我們似乎都忘了先再多看一眼提供動力向前的那口深不見底的心。或許在末日來臨之前,因為願望來不及達成而焦慮;或許在宣告有末日以前,沒有願望的空蕩反而心態舒坦;或許在此時此刻的自己,其實有時間駐足張望熙來攘往的命運,認清自己想往前狂奔或在此停留。
末日來臨前,請允許自己這樣活著。