I found this story as an image while Googling something years ago when I was in middle school (if I remember correctly). When I clicked the image, it pointed me to a blog post. The only text written in that post was “Here is a story that gets less clear the more you think about it.” The rest of the post was a huge image narrating the story. I read the story and it was too abstract for me at that time. But, somehow, I remember the story for years later. Years later, I was in high school. I was reflecting on my life while resting on my bed and that story came to my mind. And then, the meaning of that story seemed to become very clear to me. I tried to find the original image and blog post. Unfortunately, I can’t find either the image or the blog post. So, I decided to write the story here. If anyone knows the story’s source, please tell me about it.

The Story

Once upon a time, a blue man lived in a cave. He lived there with other people. But he seems to be the only blue man there. All the people he lived with was black. The blue man was accepted in that little community, but he and all the other people were always a bit bothered about this difference.

The blue man had been in that cave from the day he was born, just like the other black people he lived with. And since then, he had been walking around in circles inside that cave with all the people there. And for all he knew, he might have died in that cave someday, just like other black people who have come and go before him. But then, there was the door.

One day, the blue man and the black people were resting after a long walk around the cave. While he was sitting, the blue man looked around and saw a hole in the wall of the cave about the size of a man. Curiosity made him go through that hole and he found himself in a little room with a wooden door in a corner of the room and a key in the floor in another corner. He grabbed the key and tried to open the door with it. The key fitted in the hole, but it seems to not work when he tried to turn it. Soon, he realized that the door had already been unlocked. He threw the key back to the floor and he opened the door.

There was nothing. He glanced out and everything is dark. So he decided to get out to get a better view. He started to walk while looking left and right. All he saw was darkness. A few moments later, he was about a hundred meters far from the door. And suddenly, the darkness got into him. It seems to be putting enormous pressure on his body. He started to feel as if he is getting squeezed by the pressure. He started to panic. He struggled to breathe, but the darkness was too strong. His knees became weak and he fell unconscious.

The blue man got awake. He got up and sit in the darkness. It seems that his body had already gotten used to the darkness. He looked again left and right, but there was still nothing as far as he can see. So he decided to just go back to the cave. He stood up, turned around, and started to walk. But then he suddenly stopped walking. He was deeply shocked when he looked back at the direction of the door.

There was no cave. There was no door. All he saw was people. The black people had finished resting and was starting to walk again. But, wait. They are not black. They are blue. The blue man was confused by what he sees. So he sat down and think. He looked around again and this time he saw things. So he thought a bit more and then he understood.

He got up. He started collecting tools and materials. He met other blue men and when the time was right, they started to build a cave.