Reality is most solid in concept and most fragile in nature.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7vjxR6zzx
My brief journey to the outside answered a few questions that had been troubling my mind for quite some time. In a similar manner, however, it gave me a sizeable portion of food for thought, which I have been contemplating since without much success. Dealing with matters teetering on the edge of human understanding has turned out to be as exciting as it is exhausting, slowing my progress down to a powerless crawl.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87kSi3xctP
My mind was mostly occupied with this world at its core, its most basic rules that seemed to have little in common with our regular, “human” reality. If the outside is a collective background image from those who have and have had Homes, then how does a Home itself stay consistent? Any Home is certain to have changed a number of owners, all of whom had kept a different image of it; yet, my Home seems to stay consistent throughout every visit of mine. The only change I have been able to notice so far was that it seems to reset to a "dusty" state every time; however, the objects I move keep their positions regardless.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiLxPz34Wb
There must be a memory aspect involved, but it is so far escaping my grasp. Had it not been for the dust, I would have assumed that the image of Home is taken straight from my memory, making it seem perfectly consistent to my eye and incredibly volatile in the objective reality, but at no point does my memory add dust to the picture. Though, speaking of “objective reality” may well be out of place here.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkyYjlskNr
The cold blue darkness of the outside has been beckoning me more and more often. It seemed as though it wanted desperately to show me something that I had not seen before, during my first ever… expedition. I realised it was only my urge to explore the unknowable, but I could not shake off the sinister feeling of the outside being sentient in a way. Human memories are born within human conscience, and who is to tell how much of that conscience remained as an invisible trace within the combined memory? It was not quite clear what this universe could have allowed, creating a rather bizarre cloud of opportunities. For the time being, I decided to call the combined memory Outside.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRkz9N8TIi
After a few days of hesitation—mostly stemming from the fact that another Inhabitant could see me wandering about—I finally succumbed to the urge of exploration and stepped outside for a second time. It was still unusual, seeing my world in a state of absolute devastation and abandonment, but knowing—even just believing I knew—what it was in its essence seemed to rid me of the fears I had about Outside initially. I did not know at the time that this feeble attempt at getting accustomed to this universe would never have prepared me to witness what I faced that day. Perhaps I should have deduced that something like that could happen, or perhaps nobody could; it matters little when there is present knowledge.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqD0dKB6UJ
Walking by a local grocery store, I noticed what I thought were distortions. Very slight movement that did not correlate to the subtle reflections in the glass failed to catch my eye from afar, but now that I was closer than ever, it was visible rather clearly. I instantly assumed that some of the interior was still present in Outside, and yet, curiosity still got the best of me. I knew I had to enter and observe the building from the inside.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7An45nBIVz
The door did not emit any sound upon interaction, further confirming my “combined memory” theory. The ambient lighting still seeped in through the glass, though getting much closer to pitch darkness in the process. It was still possible to see, but with one's eyes unaccustomed to this darkness, it was hardly possible to make out even the most basic of shapes. However, once my eyes adapted to the change of lighting, I felt my heart skip a beat.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWod3Qf6lb
It was not interior. There were people inside.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9tEgj8j7L
Lined up, heads down, shimmering visions of person-like figures occupied the completely empty space of the store. Not even true images; mere blurry outlines of what were supposed to be customers, standing forever inside without a purpose.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4pMs3sTie
I froze in place for a good few minutes before finally snapping out of that state and hastily making my way out of the store, then back to the safety of my Home with a stream of questions racing through my mind at breakneck speed. What were those figures? People? Images of people? An image of “a full store”? Were they sentient? What place did they take in Outside? Did they ever have a Home? What happens if you lose yours? How would that ever happen? The ever-growing collection of unanswered questions expanded by the second.
140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjnDHhqsP0
Those figures did look like people, that was undeniable. But what could a massive crowd of such figures even stand for (no pun intended) in the first place? It could not have been a mere image of “customers”, no; other crowds would have been present all over Outside, not confined to enclosed spaces like that grocery store. There must have been something else behind it. Something you could always encounter and never remember, something shadowy, unnoticed and entirely purposeless, barely grasping at the last straws of existence…140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlkSkpg86J
The realisation hit me like a truck.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp486Z8na23
A random stranger begging for change on the streets after losing all their fortune to a gambling addiction. A drunkard doing the same to forget themselves in the blissful alcohol-induced oblivion, just to give in to a sudden heart attack later without anyone by their side to help. A hobo having a troubled sleep on the hot water pipes in freezing cold whom you do not see the next day. Unnoticed, unremembered, purposeless. Homeless.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZhwaraMtE
There was indeed something incredibly sad about that image. Shadows cast into life by those people's slipping existence, they were too many to count, filling an entire grocery store; and how many other stores are there in the town? How many more are filled? How do those poor souls experience this world? Do they also see themselves standing in the darkness, unmoving, in a crowd of shimmering visions? Could they have noticed me entering?..140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNak1z7JE8W
I fear we may not know. It is not possible to peek into their minds either in this world or the true one, and I have a strange conviction that should I interact with one of the shadows, they will disappear, only for another Homeless soul to take its place.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoiRTj7lL4
Up until this ordeal, the true world, the “objective reality,” seemed consistent to me. I believed what I saw, I knew what I had learnt; like most others, I had an image of my hometown that seemed to be an imperfect but rather consistent match to what was really there. But taking just one good peek at it, paying just a little more attention, has managed to reveal the crushing truth. One crushing truth, with no telling how many I am yet to discover.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCMAXV9wxu
Reality is most solid in concept and most fragile in nature. The closer you look, the more it changes; until you finally lift off your gaze and recognise none of what you had just discovered. It may not be possible at all for us to reveal the objective truth behind the veil of observations…140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnA9Jq1GBbz
…but I am going to try my best.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5JrroB9SS
