Railing Codex

自从儿时在课本里学到，一切说到底都是原子搭建起来的，而生物的构成里最至关紧要的是碳原子，我便经常在闲暇时闭眼，试着想象着在身体里锁定一颗碳原子，和它曾经参与搭建的那些生命，和那些生命见识过的事件。
可能是山顶的一棵古树，历经千年后，被砍下做了梁木搭建了华美的殿宇，最终毁于一场大火。
可能是一条座头鲸，在多数人类一生都在一个小城池打转的时候，每年悠然地迁徙25000公里，见证无数奇景，却死于一搜捕鲸船的围猎。
我忍不住想，我的每一次呼吸里，都有一些决意要去见识别的碳循环的故事的碳原子离开我，但也有一些，从一开始便定了主意，要见证我这普通而短暂的一生。
它们来自宇宙，来自别的恒星，是旅行者、看客、见证人，也是主角本身。
就像每一个故事，都由故事的原料组成。当一个故事结束，它会被拆碎，回到原料。
每每想到这里，就觉得安慰。因为从原子的视角看，这世界无所谓开始与结束，无所谓成败，也无所谓孤独。

A childhood textbook taught me that atoms form the building blocks of everything, with carbon atoms being crucial to all living things. Since then, I often find myself, in quiet and spare moments, imagining a single carbon atom within my body. I visualize the lives it has helped build and the countless events it has witnessed throughout its existence.
Perhaps it once resided in a long-lived tree atop a mountain. After a thousand years, the tree was felled, its wood crafted into the framework for some splendid palace that ultimately vanished in a conflagration.
Or maybe it journeyed within a humpback whale, annually migrating 25,000 kilometers with effortless grace, at a time when most humans lived their whole lives in the confines of a single town. This atom witnessed countless marvels, only to see its host fall victim to a whaling ship’s ambush.
I can’t help but think that each breath of mine releases a few carbon atoms from my body, atoms determined to depart and witness the stories of other carbon cycles. Yet some remain, resolute in their decision to accompany me, observing my simple, brief life.
They come from the cosmos, from other fixed stars. They are travelers, spectators, eyewitnesses, and the main characters all at once.
Just as stories are composed of raw sources, when a tale concludes, it is dismantled and dissolves back into its original sources. 
It brings me comfort every time I think about it. After all, from the perspective of an atom, the world doesn’t change with beginnings or endings, triumphs or failures, or even loneliness.