Stories

Wells, coins, letters and lanterns. Where the ritual came from, and the places people still leave things behind.

• The letter you write and do not send

  To the dead, to an ex, to a younger self, to somebody who would never understand it. Why people keep writing letters with no possible recipient.

• The tree everyone ties ribbons to

  Cairns, love-lock bridges, roadside memorials, the wall people leave notes on. Why humans keep inventing a designated spot instead of just doing it anywhere.

• The same few things, over and over

  People do not wish for a wide variety of things. Spend any time with what strangers hope for and the same small set of wants keeps arriving in different clothes.

• Why a well, of all places

  Of everywhere a person could leave a wish, we settled on a hole full of dark water. The reasons are less documented and more interesting than the tourist signs suggest.