decades later, when I finally home again, the place was a different animal.
It wasn’t just a time of change; it was a whole new dimension.

First, i boarded a private balloon, zooming high above my childhood favorite – the royal city beach. That’s where i spent hours playing with my little sister. Just when everything seemed familiar, i saw something shocking: everywhere on the island were swimming pools filled with water族馆 (water lago). These incredible creatures could change shape and glow in the dark, but only if they wanted to.

One of these water族馆 shaped like a章鱼 was special – it had marine life ranging from huge marine biomes to tiny fishies that were ready to dive at any time. It felt alive, both on land and in the water, which made me smile.

As i descended onto the submerged elevator – the elevator I named “subway” – my eyes were caught by something even more awe-inspiring. A floating chair was hanging from the ceiling. Its controls could translate and rotate like a章鱼, moving me gracefully across the island. The glass wasn’t transparent; it had layers of thin steel.

The elevator led me to the mountain’s highest hill, where i stood atop the hilltop with my eyes closed. It felt both familiar and new. As i walked up toward the summit, i was suddenly aware of what had been a centuries-ago childhood on the island. I could still see the ocean lapping against the shore, the air humming with the sound of children running.

As i set foot on the hilltop, my mind drifted to the water below. The water had grown so big that it looked like a giant map of all the places i’d visited since i was a child. For hours, i sipped my glass of mineral water as the sun dipped below the horizon and gave me a golden view of the island.

At the base of the mountain, where i stood at first, i saw something strange. I pressed down on what looked like the elevator’s controls, but nothing happened. The elevator seemed to stay still. I turned around and faced my camera; it was facing away from me.

The elevator began descending, its movements precise yet unobtrusive. For a few seconds, i felt like i was in the middle of an airplane ride – the plane suddenly speeding off into the sky above. As if to check if something inside me would move or not, the elevator came back down, and then it went up again.

The final stop wasn’t at the summit but somewhere else on the island. It felt like a sudden reset that pushed i into a new reality. The water was different, the land had changed shape in an entirely unexpected way. But despite all the change, the world was still here.