Crossing Fireflies

It's not scary! The person in the mirror is not a ghost, not here to harm you, it is you, the person you always wanted to be but didn't dare to be. Narcissus Wen Me×Me in the Mirror Slow heat and restraint psychological orientation Shen Dufu is twenty-eight years old and is slowly disappearing from the world. Not metaphorically—her toes turned transparent. At the same time, no one among her college classmates remembered her. The landlord asked "Who are you?" But there was no such person in the police station's system. She found a clue in an old news article: There was a thrift store in the old town. There was a mirror in the store that could not reflect anyone. The person who deposited the mirror was named Shen, who looked very similar to her - that was her mother who had been missing for many years. Her mother left when she was ten years old, and no one knew where she went. Shen Durui discovered the law of transparency: every time you are ignored, every time you swallow what you want to say, every time you say "forget it" to yourself, transparency will increase a little bit. The transparent percentage starts at 10% of the toes and spreads to the calves, knees, and chest. If it exceeds 90%, it will never come back. She saw a person in the mirror - standing up straight, looking straight, always raising his head, speaking directly. It's what she always wanted to be but didn't dare to be. The person said: "I am the strength you have not used up." She said her name was Shen Duying. She found herself attracted to Shen Duying - not narcissistic, but yearning. Want to get closer to that "ideal self". Heartbeat, approach, hug, farewell. Later she realized that if she likes the person in the mirror, she likes herself. She pushed open the mirror and walked in. The world in the mirror has four layers: the first layer is the reflection layer, where the left and right are opposite daily lives; the second layer is the accumulation layer, which is full of things she threw away; the third layer is the whispering gallery, where she hears her voice saying "forget it" every time - her mother is also there, and has listened to her talk for more than ten years; the fourth layer is the core mirror, where she sees her mother. Mother is not a hero or a tragedy. She's just tired. Living outside was too tiring, and every "forget it" made her become transparent until she could no longer continue to be a mother as a complete human being. She chose the Mirror World as her comfortable permanent home. My mother said: Forget it, it is hereditary. You walked to the fourth floor. I walked to the door and didn't dare to push it open. You are braver than me. Don't waste it. Shen Dufu went back. Transparency is gone. But the outside world will not automatically get better just because she has changed. At work, her plan was taken over by her boss. She openly resisted and was fired. A colleague said, "You won't get far with a personality like yours." In the family, relatives used "your mother would wish" to exert pressure. She said "my mother wishes you would shut up" and was removed from the family group. My mother's best friend at the time said, "Your mother is too strong, you must not imitate her" - she began to wonder: Is what I resisted the same as my mother's failure? In an intimate relationship, an ambiguous partner says, "You have become different recently, and I am a little afraid of you." The final straw for her - even "getting better" would be abandoned. She stood up from the rubble. She lost her job, family relationships, and romantic partners, but she still had herself. In the last scene, an ordinary morning, she looked up while brushing her teeth, and there was only fog on the mirror. She stretched out her hand and saw her face - there was no second shadow, no Shen Duying, no mother. Only herself. She said to the mirror: "Morning." The mirror said: "Morning." It was just an echo. But at the end of the echo, there is an almost inaudible laughter belonging to Shen Duying - as if to say: I am always here, but you don't need to look for me anymore. She didn't look back at the mirror again. Because she knew it wasn't needed anymore. Intention: Behind every forgetfulness, there is a braver self.