Jan 7
✦ BEFORE THE RUN EVEN STARTS??
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Türkiye
seen from Peru
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Poland
seen from United States
seen from Poland
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
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seen from Australia
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seen from Switzerland
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seen from Indonesia
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✦ BEFORE THE RUN EVEN STARTS??
When he returned to whatever inn he was staying at, he would find the window thrown open, curtains fluttering in the breeze. A small bag of fabric tied shut would be sitting atop the table in the corner next to the incense he had placed there the night before. The fabric was reused, the same that had wrapped the bundle of food. Waste not. Tucked into the cord tying it shut was the invoice, folded neatly in half and in half again. If he picked the bag up, the ryō inside would clank together, evidence of payment. Underneath he would find a small piece of thicker textured paper. A miniature painting. A tree atop a hill by a lake covered in lily pads, oddly enough exactly like one just north of the village. On the back, in small writing, numbers, a date, a time, ending in a question mark. A request, not an expectation.
He always left the window open.
Not just because it was hot. Or because he liked the way the smoke from the burning incense would curl towards it, pulled by an unseeable force. But because it was an adopted habit after a few chance meetings and the ever lingering hope that it would be utilized as more than just a way to let in the fresh air from outside.
A hope that had obviously been fulfilled. Something he realized as he laid eyes on the small package set on the table below it.
He hadnt been serious about the payment. A petty jest more than an actual demand. One he kind of felt bad about as he discovered what else was wrapped up in the worn fabric.
He would keep the painting forever. Folded up inside of his travel pack with everything else he knew was unnecessary to carry around.
If only the numbers and figures on the back made any sense to him.
The reason for them was clear. A request he would never deny. As soon as he was cleaned up, he would take the small painting downstairs to the tavern and ask around. When you wanted to find something it was always best to ask the locals.
They never steered him wrong and they certainly wouldn’t this time either.
☺️
Trust your feelings ❤️
She was passionately trying to make what I considered to be a relatively outdated and unimaginative statement, and I mistakenly heard refreshing and enlightening poetry.
Ana Finel Honigman, “Message Understood?”