"Do you understand what I'm saying? Mr. Conroy."
Silence, repressed silence; cold, biting cold. He just widened his eyes like this, without saying a word, the halo in his eyes dimmed little by little, as if all the vitality had been drained.
This is not a dream.
It was over, everything was over, the dream was over, even his life was over.
Without the insurance money, Linda can't survive, and their house will become a heavy burden. Even if she doesn't want to, after the bank takes back the house, she can only take Sean back to her parents' house, and then gradually forget his memories. ; After his death, his traces in this world will be gradually erased, and finally disappear completely, as if he never existed, even his mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, does not remember him .
All is just a lie, a beautiful lie.
The White House said that Iraq was a threat and that they dominated the 9/11 incident, so everyone in the whole country went into the war with righteous indignation, but ended up trapped in this quagmire and could never leave. Those innocent soldiers on the battlefield, and others who cares? The company said that the job in Iraq was not dangerous and that he could earn super high pay, so he left his home in spite of himself, hoping to do something for Linda and Sean with his own hands, but ended up stuck in this small area. In a small box, waiting to die quietly, and the only thing they care about is how to avoid the payment of insurance money
How ridiculous, how ridiculous, how sad.
But what's even more sad is that he can't even burst out of anger now, there is only a sense of powerlessness, and the weight of despair weighs him down. He was alone now, Linda didn't answer the phone, Sean was at school, the White House rescuers didn't show up, and the other end of the phone was a cold-blooded animal who was eager to finish work quickly, no more, nothing more, There is no hope, there is no follow-up, this is the end.
"The Guard is Here"
"Mr. Conroy?" the other end of the phone called again, and he still didn't respond. "This is my conversation with Mr. Paul Conroy. I'm going to turn off the recorder."
He widened his eyes, but there was nothing left in those dark brown eyes, as if there was no fluctuation at all. A hot tear slipped down from the eye socket, but before it could land on the ground, it evaporated cleanly in the air. He didn't even cry.
As Chu Jiashu, he died once; as Paul Conroy - or Renly Hall, he can't tell now whether Renly was a dream or Paul was a dream, but it doesn't matter. Who is, now it's time to end again, he's going to die again.
Die again.
What about the fear of death? The desire to survive? The yearning for freedom? No, everything is gone, everything is cut off coldly and extinguished, there is nothing, he can't even feel the pain, he just lays here quietly, waiting for death to come. The whole world turned gray, mighty and imposing, but he didn't even have the strength to struggle, let alone escape.
What a wonderful thing it is to quietly appreciate the world falling apart. The corner of his mouth, slowly, gently, slowly, drew a shallow arc, which was a smile.
The dead silence gave people the illusion that time was at a standstill. After waiting for a long time on the other end of the phone, there was still no response. It seemed that even the sound of breathing had disappeared, and a sadness slowly rose, he said softly. , "I'm sorry." There is no official business before, the voice is slightly deep, echoing in the faint brilliance of the mobile phone, inexplicably adding a touch of sadness.
He cut off the phone, then slowly put his arm down, staring intently at the piece of wood above his head, the flashlight on his chest flashed twice, and finally calmed down, a faint light pressed against the darkness It seemed precarious and in danger of being extinguished at any moment.
He lay like this, the sound of breathing gradually disappeared, the ups and downs of his chest gradually calmed down, the curvature of the corners of his mouth returned to the original again, the brilliance in those dark brown eyes slowly dissipated, there was no anger, no despair, no After the irony, there is nothing left, only a tranquility, as if the process of disappearing with the brilliance of the faint vitality can be truly and clearly seen.
call. The world is quiet again.
In a trance, he returned to the hospital bed of the previous life again. It was a vast expanse of whiteness. Around him, doctors and nurses could be seen running fast. Despair and shock were written on Ding Yanan's tearful face. It became more and more blurry, all the surrounding noises began to disappear, and the world dimmed little by little. He knows that there is no next time, this is the end, the end of nothingness.
"… Renly."
The empty voice came from the distant horizon, indistinct, echoing in the boundless darkness, unable to identify the direction or the content, as if it was just the whistling of the wind.
"… Renly." The voice was still floating, and the empty echo seemed thin and fragile. Suddenly, the voice crossed the vastness of the interstellar space and exploded directly in the ear, "Renly!"
A beam of light exploded in the depths of the pupil, the dazzling light flooded into the eyes instantly, the pain of tearing made the body follow the instinct/ability to close the eyes, the bright and almost hot light instantly turned all the darkness into darkness The ablation disappeared, even with his eyes closed, he could feel the boiling heat, but he still didn't have the strength to touch it, and even his brain couldn't react.
"Renly! God, what the hell is going on? Renly! Renly!"
The anxious voice roared in his ears, like a huge force, pulling him up from the depths of the ocean, and suddenly, he got out of the water, and his suffocated lungs suddenly sucked in. A lot of air, "Drink." He couldn't help gasping for breath, opened his eyes again, his muscles were so tight that he couldn't even move his eyeballs, he just stared blankly at the light source directly above, stabbed. Eyes are sore.
"Renly? Answer me? Renly!"
"Hu, hu, hu..." He took a deep breath, and his soul finally returned to his body again. He turned his head to look at it blankly, and his blurred focus tried to find a reference in front of his eyes, the figures in the distance. Both lost their faces and wore the same mask; so did the man who was close by, wearing a white mask with no facial features. This left him at a loss, and his head full of question marks could not be answered—
Who is he? Is this a dream or reality? How should he differentiate? Is he Paul or Renly, or is it just Chu Jiashu's dream? Was he buried alive? Has he been rescued? Did he survive? Or is he filming? What happened to the hotel? What is a dream and what is reality? In the end what happened? What is the situation now
"… Where am I now?" struggling, he finally asked a question.
Rodrigo looked at Renly in front of him, and inexplicably, tears fell. He knew he was embarrassed, but he couldn't control himself. He wiped the hot tears from his cheeks, "Warehouse, we are now in Warehouse, this is the set." Rodrigo didn't know why Renly asked this question, but he did his best to answer it.
"Remember? We were filming, and you... you were too tired, so you fell asleep, and after waking you up, we started filming again. How are you now? Our work today can be done if needed. Pause, you go back and have a good rest. You don't have to worry about the cost of renting the warehouse, we are still relatively well-funded... "
Rodrigo continued to speak, but Renly raised his hand to stop it. He turned to look again, and the faces in his line of sight began to gradually become clearer, one after another, unfamiliar and familiar faces. , with panic and shock, his eyes fell on his shoulders, as if... as if he had just escaped from death.
"So, we were filming just now." Renly's brain turned a little slow, and he was still a little vague. He was called "Renly" just now, which means, is this reality? But how can he tell the difference? Do you want to look for the unbalanced feeling of falling like in "Inception"? Or, find your own totem
The chaotic thoughts subsided, he raised his head again, and then saw Rodrigo's urgent expression, the tears remaining in his eyes reflected his pale and desperate face, "... Then did the shooting of this scene just now go well? ?"
It's not real, it's all too real. The line between fantasy and reality is really blurry, and there doesn't seem to be much difference between this moment and the moment just now. But at least he is "alive" now, even if it is an illusion, he is still alive, he needs a little time to sort out his thoughts.
For now, let's think he's Renly, let's think it's just filming just now, let's think it's just a dream after reading the script in the hotel and seeing that falling asleep.
"Very good." Rodrigo's words were a little stumbling, and Renly's question caught him off guard - Renly was in such a bad state just now, and now he is asking about the shooting situation? This... this... really made Rodrigo not know how to deal with it. But take a step back and think that Renly has put on such an incredible performance that it would be their sin if the cameras didn't record it faithfully. "Perfect! I mean." Rodrigo said quickly, "All There was nothing wrong with everything, and the camera angles were perfect, no need for reshoots. Wonderful, really amazing!”
In his mind, he couldn't think of any actor who could reach such heights, not even Robert De Niro, not even Al Pacino, not even Marlon Brando. Although he did not know, even though his judgment was unfair, and even though he made a fuss, this is what he thought. This performance just now is definitely worth going down in history!
"That's good. It's a good thing. Right? It's a good thing?" Renly teased in a weak voice, and then began to cough violently.