遇見拼圖 / Meeting the Puzzle

我有位朋友，在偶爾閒聊時，他分享他很喜歡拼圖，有時候，他會找某個悠閒的午後，踏入一家舒適的咖啡店，打開一盒五百片的拼圖，用這些零碎的小片段，來消磨整個下午時光，對他而言，沒有匆促的行程，沒有訊息的打擾，只有拼圖、音樂，咖啡及一點點與自己獨處的平靜。

聽他緩緩道來，他與拼圖互動的一個下午，我有點羨慕，但也不是那麼羨慕，因為，我不是那種有耐心的人，拼圖的過程可能很單純，或許也很迷人，但是，我可能沒辦法靜下心，在某家咖啡店消磨一個下午。

不過，某天經過一家拼圖店，店門口放著遊戲王卡牌青眼白龍的拼圖，非常吸引我想要入內一探究竟，我進入店中，瞧了一下，店內最熱門的拼圖，看起來是那些受歡迎的動漫與遊戲主題拼圖，如鬼滅之刃》、《宮崎駿系列》、《寶可夢》等，這些拼圖不但圖案精美，還極具收藏價值，店內放置最多，幾乎佔了店內拼圖的一半。

此外，一些世界遺產與建築拼圖看起來也不錯，最特別的是立體建築系列，如可以拼出整座城堡或寺廟的模型拼圖，這個我還是第一次見到，算是長見識，此外，還有一個3D立體砌圖瓶拼圖，禁止觸碰，可能店家怕客人不小心把拼圖弄散了，很難拼回去，我其實無法想像，當初是怎麼拼起來的，應該很考驗拼圖者的手眼協調能力吧，此外，我看見不少客人，還要求店家幫忙把拚好的拼圖，裱框或定制框架來，讓拼圖也可成為一件室內裝飾，或增加收藏價值。

雖然我並不是拼圖愛好者，但是在這間小店中，也見識到各式各樣的拼圖，有很基本款的，像是五十片以內的拼圖，也有很高難度的立體拼圖，或許我們的日子就像一盒拼圖，散亂、充滿未知，需要時間與心力去組合，只要願意一塊一塊慢慢來，最後終會看見全貌吧。

I have a friend who, during our occasional chats, once shared how much he loves puzzles. Sometimes, he’d pick a quiet afternoon, step into a cozy café, open a box of 500-piece puzzles, and spend the whole afternoon piecing it together. For him, there’s no rush, no notifications to bother him. It is just puzzles, music, coffee, and a bit of peaceful alone time.

Listening to him talk slowly about an afternoon spent with a puzzle made me feel a little envious, but not exactly. I’m not the kind of person who has that kind of patience. Sure, I get that the process of doing a puzzle can be simple and even charming, but I don’t think I’d be able to sit still and quietly pass a whole afternoon in a café like that.

But one day, I passed by a puzzle store and saw a Yu-Gi-Oh! "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" puzzle displayed at the entrance. It really caught my eye, so I decided to go in and check it out. Inside, I noticed that the most popular puzzles were ones based on anime and games—Demon Slayer, Studio Ghibli movies, Pokémon, and so on. The artwork was beautiful, and they seemed like great collectibles too. Those puzzles alone took up nearly half the store.

There were also some puzzles featuring famous landmarks and world heritage sites, which looked pretty cool. What really stood out to me, though, were the 3D architectural puzzles—like ones where you can build entire castles or temples. I’d never seen anything like that before, so it felt like a bit of an eye-opener. One item that really intrigued me was a 3D bottle-shaped puzzle. There was a sign saying not to touch it—probably because if it fell apart, it’d be almost impossible to put back together. I honestly couldn’t imagine how someone managed to complete it. It must take some serious hand-eye coordination.

I also noticed some customers asking the shop to frame their finished puzzles. That way, the puzzle becomes more than just a pastime—it turns into a decorative piece, even a collectible.

Even though I’m not a puzzle enthusiast myself, I saw all kinds of puzzles in that little store, from really simple ones with under 50 pieces, to extremely difficult 3D models. Maybe life is kind of like a puzzle too—messy, unpredictable, and full of scattered pieces. But if we’re willing to take it one piece at a time, we’ll eventually see the full picture.

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