Mad Potato

剛剛意外在電子郵件裡發現了自己十多年前打的一篇日記，又英文寫的流水帳，像是跟自己說故事似的，亂七八糟，文法漏洞百出，卻覺得可愛無比，記錄了一段我早已忘卻的記憶。日期是 2016 年 1 月 19 日，尤其相較於我那段時間其他日子記錄下來的許多個人煩惱，這篇內容有趣許多：

“So, Mad, I want to tell you about this pair of mother and daughter I met on the train yesterday. They were very interesting together, yet it was their respective distinct personality that made them so adorable. For the first two stations or so after I met them, they had been staring at a spot somewhere behind me, without speaking a word, their faces dull. Then the mother spoke abruptly, and quite impatiently, as if they had been talking all this time, and said, “If you want to talk to your big aunt, you have to do it yourself, because I want to take a shower first." However, the daughter didn’t reply in the same manner, instead she was really calm and slowly agreed to her mother. That was totally out of my expectation. She said something about her mom being able to join them after she finishes showering, if I remember correctly. Anyway, silence returned, and they didn’t speak for another three minutes or so. Suddenly, the mother spoke out again, this time she told her daughter to take the shower first, again in her dramatic tone, which, I have to admit, was quite a delight to hear, because, it’s hard to describe, the tone somehow feels like spices added to a dish. The daughter argued pretty plainly, to my amusement, and they began discussing the reason why the other should take the shower first. Ultimately, they decided to hand the decision to the God of paper, scissors, stone. They had quite a few trials for that, with the mother possibly cheating a few times, a funny kind of cheating, for it was made by someone who’s unwilling to admit her defeat. Eventually, the mother lost, despite her efforts, and the daughter was victorious. But then the mother said, “The winner takes the shower first," much to her daughter’s surprise, and the statement brought an instant smile to my face which I tried my best to suppress. Yet again, the daughter wasn’t angry, unlike many children, and I think gradually they came to an understanding. They talked about stinky tofu, because they were at a night market, if I’m correct, and according to the mother, she was not feeling well, perhaps due to the fact that she had eaten too many stinky tofu. Then the mother asked her daughter if she thought the tofu was greasy or crispy, and that the stinky tofu wasn’t stinky at all. The daughter replied that it was crispy, and later added that her mother demanded too much, which I think is very adorable. That’s about the story of the mother and daughter I encountered on the metro, it has zero twist, but it is irreplaceable. I wonder how long they’ll stay in my memory. I wonder if I’ll ever come across them again. A dynamic duo, the two of them, and I’m glad I was there to witness this small episode in their lives, which has now turned into a small episode in mine as well."

我再次意識到自己一直以來都很努力想要記錄事情，意識到或許是因為我真的很容易忘記，所以才更加緊抓著一切不想放掉。像是這對母女，我現在完全想不起來他們長什麼樣子，又是在捷運哪一段路程上碰到他們的，甚至曾經有過這段短暫的偶遇都沒有印象。這個故事唯一的證據只有我寫下的這段文字。十年過去了，女孩早已長大成人，那晚到底是誰先去洗澡，又是誰先去跟大姨講話了呢？好想知道他們當時是在哪個夜市吃臭豆腐的。剛剛讀的時候我忍不住笑了，原來我寫過這一段話，當時的我應該認為我會記得這個故事很久，但是何時忘記的我也早就不知道了。總之，發掘這段故事，提醒了我要繼續寫作，繼續寫些莫名其妙、無關緊要的事情，寫些生命當中那些不起眼的時刻，畢竟雖然它們都會被遺忘，但等待時間過去，再發現的時候，以前的故事和當時的自己似乎都會變成一種令現在的我快樂的驚喜；原來曾經與這兩個陌生人有過這場交集，原來過去我對於這些片刻早已經懂得珍惜。