A Paper, Perhaps
A man attempts to fold a piece of paper. Or so he believes. Through spirals of thought, self-dialogue, and fractured memory, this quietly surreal piece unravels the line between action and imagination—where the paper may be folded, or may have never existed at all.
With careful hands, he brought the edges of the paper together — slowly, deliberately. Folded, not for function but for feeling. He wondered if it was art or just delay.
“He folds again,” he whispered, not quite aloud.
No audience, no applause. Only the quiet rustle of intent.
It was just a few days ago. Or was it longer? Time felt dishonest lately.
He had folded the paper then too — with the same strange reverence.
“He thinks it matters. That this fold is different. That this time it will say something back.”
He didn’t know when the folding began or why it felt necessary. Only that he kept doing it, like someone searching for shape in chaos.
A sigh.
“Still, he folds.”
And when he did, the world thinned.
Noise dissolved. Meaning hovered just beyond the edge of understanding.
It was a simple act. Yes. But not small. Not when he thought about it — and he always thought about it.
“He’s making too much of it again.”
He ignored the voice, though it was his.
Maybe.
Sometimes he explained the act to others. Whispered of the fold like it was a symbol, a metaphor, a tether.
But their eyes glazed, kind and distant. So he stopped explaining.
Still, he found himself circling back to the same sentence, over and over:
“The story,” he’d say, “is about a man who folds a piece of paper.”
And they’d smile.
And he’d nod.
But inside:
“That’s not what it’s about. Or maybe it is. Or maybe he doesn't know.”
With every crease, the paper changed — subtly, almost imperceptibly. Like him.
He traced the line again with a fingertip.
“This one’s for clarity,” he said.
But it wasn’t.
Not really.
“He’s chasing stillness,” he whispered to no one.
A beat.
“Or hiding from it.”
In the silence that followed, he sat with the paper. And the paper, folded but not finished, sat with him.
And for a moment, they understood each other perfectly.