城市記得她

後記 · AFTERWORD

一條舊路抵住了柱腳。另一條曾經折返，也曾有人在中途停下。女王能喚回這些方向，卻不替居民決定今天怎麼走。新的粉痕會鬆散、變淡；有些步伐只屬於走過的當下。她放下外套、解開髮簪，讓城裡的人替她重綁辮子，再把髮簪留在果籃裡。最後，她坐在交易廣場安靜的一角，外套放在身旁，雙手攤開；地上的新粉痕都往外走。城市記得她，也繼續容納此刻。

An old route reaches the foot of a column. Another once turned back; someone paused along it. The queen can recall these directions, but she does not choose how residents must walk today. Fresh powder loosens and fades. Some footsteps belong only to the moment in which they are taken. She sets her jacket down, takes the pin from her hair, lets someone in the city retie her braid, and leaves the pin in a fruit basket. In the end she sits at a quiet corner of the trading square, the jacket beside her, her hands open; the fresh powder prints on the ground all lead away from her. The city remembers her, and continues to make room for the present.