I took the tram home as usual. Just as I got on the tram, I saw a black figure flash by outside the window in the corner of my eye. Before I could react, he disappeared into the crowd. It's strange, he left the platform from a corner, so far away from me, yet so eye-catching.
I turned my head, wanting to ask the passenger next to me if they had noticed that person, but I stopped myself. Why do I care so much? He's just an ordinary person.
Perhaps the recent heavy workload has made me a bit neurotic, so I walked into a coffee shop I often go to after getting off the tram to relax. After sitting down, I took out a book called "Life is Not About Finding Answers" from my bag. I bought it on sale on Singles' Day, and the cover looked interesting. But after reading a few sentences, I knew it was another book full of empty inspirational words. I opened the first page and stared at the koala logo on my coffee cup.
But somehow, I felt an urge to "look to the right," as if there was something outside the window attracting me, even though I didn't want to. I frowned and eventually turned my head - that figure appeared again. He crossed the zebra crossing and walked into a convenience store after the green light came on.
I suddenly stood up from my seat and slapped the table hard, startling the person sitting next to me.
After apologizing, I quickly packed up and walked towards the zebra crossing, anxiously waiting at the traffic lights. When passersby saw my anxious look, they thought something was wrong and asked me. I could only scratch my head and reply, "Ah... I'm, chasing someone."
Who are you chasing? You don't even know what he looks like! So I started to try to remember the person's appearance, if there were any obvious signs, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember what he was wearing, what he was holding in his hand, or what he had on his head. There was nothing in my memory about him, just a blurry black figure. But strangely, I could immediately recognize that it was him who had just crossed the road.
The green light came on, and I rushed towards the convenience store. The store was small, and I looked around. The clerk smiled and asked what I needed. It was then that I realized I was the only customer in the store.
"Did someone... come to buy something just now?"
The clerk looked puzzled, "It was the rush hour just now, many customers came to the store, who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for..." I looked around in confusion and unexpectedly caught sight of the person outside the glass door, walking hurriedly across the street. "Ah, there!" Joy surged up in my heart, and I couldn't help but exclaim. The clerk turned his head in confusion and stared at the empty street, saying, "Sir, there's nothing over there." I became anxious, "He was just there, he walked over! You just didn't see it. Well, forget it, I'm going over to find him."
I ran out of the store door with excitement, only to find that there was no one on the street, and it was getting dark. I looked down at my watch, it was already dinner time, no wonder everyone had disappeared. But it was strange, I felt like I had just finished work. I walked back to the convenience store with a sense of loss and bought a frozen meal for dinner. The clerk seemed to sense my disappointment and gave me a discount when I paid.
"Are you chasing someone you like?"
"Well, I can't even say I know him."
"I see." The clerk smiled and handed me the packed meal, a smile that made me feel uncomfortable.
I ate the meal while watching the news, preparing to complain about buying a super-tasteless flavor on my social media, when I noticed a black figure moving in the corner of the screen - that person actually appeared on TV! I almost spit out the food in my mouth, but I definitely didn't see it wrong, he just walked past the camera. I couldn't understand, this was the national news broadcast, and I didn't even know where the footage was from, why would he appear there?
I deleted the half-written text and posted on my social media about the encounters with that person today.
"Maybe it's an illusion?"
"You don't even know what he looks like, how can you be sure it's the same person you saw?"
"You scare yourself by always looking at those strange and scary things."
I frowned at my friends' replies. I couldn't have been mistaken, it was definitely the same person. They walked so fast, always appearing in inconspicuous places, looking ordinary but giving me a different feeling.
The next day happened to be Saturday, and I decided to go out and see if I could encounter that person again.
Shamefully, besides the formal clothes I wear for work, I couldn't seem to find any decent clothes. In the end, I found a slightly tight hoodie in my closet. "It makes me look a bit fat, but at least it's presentable." I said to myself in front of the mirror, but I was soon shocked - in the mirror, I saw a black figure pass by from outside the window, that person just walked past!?
I supported myself with both hands on the floor, staring at the mirror without daring to move, but there was only me in it, in a state of panic. "Damn, why did I get scared?" I quickly got up and ran out of the house. "He's so close this time, I'm sure I can find him." I ran quickly on the street, scanning every corner around me, trying to find that person.
Two hours passed, and I found nothing. I felt like a fool, not understanding why I cared so much about a stranger, making myself so nervous. Perhaps it was really because of the work pressure. Thinking of going back home to rest, I turned around and saw that person on the other side of the sidewalk. He also noticed me and started to speed up.
"Damn it, who the hell are you!" I got angry, I was angry that even if he was discovered, he didn't turn his head to let me see his face.
I caught up with him, and he almost ran for his life, rushing into an alley. I didn't let him disappear from my sight and stared at his back. It was then that I noticed, it wasn't that I couldn't remember what he looked like, he really was all black, with a blurry appearance, without any details. No matter how close I was, he looked like a black shadow, and I could barely make out his flailing limbs. What on earth was he?
I wasn't afraid, but instead, I chased after him even more closely. In desperation, I grabbed a pile of cardboard boxes next to the alley and threw them at him. He finally stopped.
He curled up on the ground, looking like a black ball, but without the texture of fur, like an error graphic with blurred boundaries. I became even more curious, reached out and tried to pull his arm away from his face, but he held on tightly and let out a painful groan. That sound, it sounded like the neighing of a wild horse, but deeper and more melancholic.
"I just want to see what you look like! Stop crying!"
His cries became sharper, making my heart race. Unable to bear it any longer, I used all my strength to pry his arm away, but before I could catch a glimpse of his true face, his whole body dissipated like particles in the air, leaving only a faint and quickly disappearing faint moan.
Then there was silence.
So, is he dead?
What does he really look like?
I looked at the empty alley in front of me, my mind blank. After a few minutes, I returned home and stared into the mirror, feeling lost.