There’s a kind of magic that lingers between the racks of a thrift store. Objects waiting to be noticed again wear quiet afterlives beckoning another turn.
Share Your Thrift Store Narrative with Us
This issue, we invite you to wander through a thrift store (or return in memory to your last visit to one) and let one item choose you. Rather than choosing the obvious piece, the polished gem, select the object that makes you pause: a coat with a worn lining and a stain on the lapel, a vanity missing one of its knobs, a pair of shoes that have clearly walked farther than you have.
Lean into the story with a curious eye.
More Than An Item
Who held this before you? What did their days look like? Was this object part of a ritual, a turning point, a quiet, ordinary life? And perhaps more intriguingly, what loosened their grip, allowing them to relinquish the item? What small or seismic shift led this item being here, to fluorescent lights and a second chance?
We’re looking for mor ethan nostalgia. We’re looking for imagination tethered to humanity, for stories that feel lived in, a little frayed at the edges, and deeply curious about the invisible threads between people and the things that they leave behind.
Submission Guidelines
Find the object. Follow its history. Tell us what lingers. Submissions should be submitted in Microsoft Word, contain no more than 500 words, and include the author’s name, email, phone, physical address, and title of the piece in the upper right-hand corner.