THE WORLD OF REFLECTIONS

Spring 2016
Fairy Tales Competition
Independent
Buffalo,NY

Fairy Tales competition captured the imagination of architectural representation. The entry combines a text narrative with 5images in a story telling manner. “The world of reflective” is a story of a girl’s inner delusions, implying a never-ending story of the reality.

About

ACT 1

I
“I could feel my tear falling out, but I wasn’t able to tell…”
“Wake Up...Wake Up!” I heard my own voice screaming...
As I struggled to open my eyes, I found myself sinking in the middle of a hol-lowed architecture. I was
trapped in a space, heavily layered with colors emitted from tangled wires, neon signboards, and paper
lanterns…” what is this place? Why am I here…”
I tried to wake myself up, thinking it was just a dream but it wasn’t. I clearly felt the warm currents
flowing through my body. My pupils slowly enlarged and tried to soak in all the colors like a sponge.
The place seemed to be under water, but I was able to breathe… And much to my own surprise, my
body was calm and relaxed. I have never felt so relaxed for a long time.
I had so many questions in mind, but the dazzling colors were so attractive and fulfilling to stare at as
they glittered, and then slowly blended into one another, with a tempo that synchronized with my heart
rate…
I was surrounded with rooms; just like those from the apartment I lived in when I was a kid. They
reminded me of my family, my neighbors, and…...friends. I took a sec-ond look and noticed the
signboards looked a lot like the ones I saw from my old bed-room window. The hollowed building
was like a vibrant collage of all the places from my childhood, where I have left most of my memories
at……
I kept gazing at those neon lights, and slowly forgotten I was drowning. For some reason, I felt lost and
overwhelmed under the colorful world… I felt lost from my memo-ries, my dreams, and from those
who I once loved and cared about. I could feel my tear falling out, but I wasn’t able to tell….
“Are those sharks?!” as I glanced up…

ACT 2

II
“Did you save me?”, as I slowly regained my vision, I saw a girl sitting on a bed and staring at me…..
“Hope you feel a little better now,” she said, “once in a while, someone would fall into this place for a
certain reason….”
“What is this place? Then what is the reason for me?” I asked
“This building is called The Lantern; there are many of them here in this world. Just like architectures
from your world are containers for habitation, these Lanterns are containers for feelings and thoughts,”
she answered me, “everyone here perceives this world differently. As you may have already noticed,
the colors here changes, they are constantly reflecting your feelings, those you tried to conceal deeply
in your heart.”
“What is that on your back?” I interrupted her talk as I noticed the cable wire at-tached to her.
“I don’t know, I was like this from the start……my guess is that I’m a robot and these are my
chargers…” she answered.
“So this is your room? A toilet right next to your bed huh, this place has such a strange layout… don’t
you think?”……I couldn’t help but to spit it out as I realized I was sitting on top of a toilet bowl, and
the only separation between her bed and this toilet was a curtain… “Sorry to say, but I really think this
place is a bit mishandled with its de-sign…”
“Then what is the right design? Leon” she asked me back … I became speech-less…wait… why
does she know my name…

ACT 3

III
She smiled at me…... Her smile was so pretty… she continued talking……
“You see… The world where you came from is under a teleological social struc-ture, where everything
must exist for a purpose; everything is labeled with definitions. People have slowly become negligible
components of a giant teleological machine that serves to construct a so-called perfectly designed
world, meanwhile, this machine con-sumes individuals’ dreams, courage, feeling, and honesty as its
fuel. Unlike your world, where everything is designed to be perfect, here is a delusional world, a world
of reflec-tions. You might find it hard to understand, but soon you will fall in love to this world without
any reason. The architectures here are made with reflections of the places that people tend to ignore or
forgotten in the real world, the places where has conserved the all of the humans’ feelings, the places
that accepts contradictions and imperfections… Hey! Let me show you around this place!” she then
stood up and grabbed me by my hand; just like a little kid….I followed her while struggling to digest
what she just said…
We took a train that was mostly made out of glasses, to another lantern which she claimed to be fun
and exciting. While, on the train, I said “you are wrong about my world, I….do have dreams”
“Hmm, interesting… but are your dreams really belonging to you?” she replied me without
hesitation…and got me speechless again…
“Wow, this place is huge!”…The new lantern was filled with a different set of color and layout, sharper
and more delusional, and it was jammed with people! “You haven’t told me your name yet!” I yelled at
her…
“I don’t know…I know a lot of things about this place and your world….but I know nothing about
myself…” she turned to me and yelled back

ACT 4

IV
It was one of the most remarkable experiences I have ever had! We went over almost every part of
this building, so many places that I couldn’t even recall, but there was one place that kept fresh in my
mind…
“What is that?” I pointed at a glowing and steamy object in a corner; there were a few seats and tables
packed around it. “That’s a food cart! Let’s go check it out!” she grabbed me and started sprinting
towards it.
We sat down, and ordered two large bowls of Sapporo ramen; she then looked at me and said, “so do
you like this place?”… “Of course! This place reminded me of those days! When I didn’t have to worry
about anything and just enjoy life with friends and family! I was surprised that even the most hidden
corners here are lighted with activi-ties; this whole world is full of stories, stories I couldn’t even dare
to imagine from my world! They actually sell memories of people from my world in the stores here,
and shots of dreams at the bars! What a delusional world! You know? You also reminded me of the
imaginary girl that have always appeared in my dreams, she is like the lantern that guides me the way
in, when I’m lost and felt hopeless...” she listened to me atten-tively and… I noticed a faint blush on
her face...

ACT 5

V
I couldn’t remember how long I have slept; I woke up in an oppressive room eroded with obscure lights… she was
gone…she left a letter and the cable......
“Leon, thank you…I was able to find my lost soul because of you. I don’t know how long I have stayed here; I tried
to find answers for who I am and why I’m here until you appeared. This cable wasn’t a charging cable but a pivot of
memories. Once you attach this, it will take away your memories until you can find the answers to your lost soul, the
answers that matter the most to you. After seeing you, I realized I was blind-folded by the theological society, lost
on my way in perusing dreams which didn’t belong to me. I learned how to act pretentiously, until one day I couldn’t
even recognize myself anymore. I was ignorant to those who loved me… Leon, I really wish we can meet again on the
other side…”
I quickly picked up the cable and attached it to my back; a number appeared in my mind and started counting…
…10…20…30…40…50…60…70…80…90…98…99
“Are you ready Leon?”… I heard an echoing voice in my head “This is Avakijutesvara… the lord of mercy… Is there
any last words before I take away your memory?”
“…Somehow…The world turned me into a cautious man; I do everything accord-ing to the rules, living in perfectly
crafted boxes just like everyone else, scared to make mistakes, scared to lose the flimsy life I had, but never realize
that nothing actually be-longed to me; because I have lost what’s most important to me… myself and everyone I
loved. Buddha…I guess I’m ready, I’m ready to search back myself and those who mat-ters to me. A house will never
be perfect…no matter how overly designed it is, if it doesn’t belong to those who live in it……”
……
……

THE WORLD OF REFLECTIONS

Spring 2016 Fairy Tales Competition Independent Buffalo,NY

About

Spring 2016
Fairy Tales Competition
Independent
Buffalo,NY