No One Belongs Here More Than You...Except Maybe These Two Women

No one belongs here more than you…except maybe these two women.

They were quite insistent that they did, because they clung to the crease inside the cover, so they must. But exactly why, I’m not sure.

Neither one is the author, Miranda July. I looked her up. And this is definitely not her. And they are also not the owners of the used bookstore in Reno, where this was purchased, so far as I can tell.

I wonder what exactly it was about this particular book and these particular people that necessitated their placement here. And why and where and when are they?

It can’t have been recent, because it’s an actual developed photo, from actual developed film. Something you can hold in your hands in a way digital denies.

The book was published 10 years ago, and a lot has happened since then. I wonder what has happened to them. These two smiling women, one with hair shorn short, embraced by the other, outdoors as the leaves change and the seasons slip towards winter.

Are they still within arm’s length or is there a distance now?

There’s no inscription. No description. No dedication to a friendship penned on the pages of prose or on the picture itself. Just a colorful moment of closeness captured by Kodack, that these people were evidently pleased with and likely had no idea would pass out into the world where it would set minds to wondering.

Wondering what exactly they're doing there?

And more so...

Why do I even care?

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