A photograph may indeed hold a story within it, but somebody must tell it, release it. This is your blank slate, your page to write down the story inside this photo. Our pilgrim will select one to publish here, and the author will receive a fine art print of the photograph. We recommend about two hundred words, but stories each have their own peculiar demands...

Dian Barber

She sat in the wooden chair by the bath, letting down her whitened hair, slowly bending to remove her shoes and socks, then standing to remove her mushroom-dyed sweater and sturdy skirt and the rest of her sensible wear. She carefully folded her skirt and laid it upon the chair. The late gold of an autumn afternoon fell upon a patch of the sweater, catching her eye, as she placed it on the back of the chair. The mushroom-dyed yarn had aged well, into a soft and enduring forest green. As Yumi leaned over to test the tub water, laboriously heated and carried in metal buckets, she remembered the misting silver day as she and Satoshi had gathered the velvet-footed pax into their baskets and the time it took to coax its secret beauty into her yarn. She had knitted them both sweaters from that yarn, in their new land, long ago.

She trailed her fingers into the water: “Ah, the water is fine,” she thought, and carefully lowered herself into her old friend of the floating memories. The unbidden delight of her daughters’ and grandchildren’s beautiful, lively faces drifted into her mind. Behind them, was her Satoshi-san, holding out his arms. It had been so long, so long. A smiling Yumi closed her eyes and allowed the luxury of sunyata warmth to seep in to her body.

One Response to “Dian Barber”

  1. Laurie Patterson Says:
    August 27th, 2010 at 1:34 pm

    Ahhhh - it gives me goosebumps. How beautiful - the imagery brings tears to one’s eyes. I hope I go like that. Thanks folks, for a job well done.

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