if the picture wasn’t taken, where did the image go?, 2022

I

Two water bottles, an envelope, a glass jar, a green wall, a large window, a garden, a house, a light bulb. 

II

Two plastic water bottles, with condensation and some water. A flat, white envelope. A glass jar with a wooden lid. A green wall and a large window. A wet, green garden of trees and bushes. A two story house with white walls. An orange light bulb reflected on the window. 

III

Two plastic bottles next to each other, touching. Both are less than half full, the insides coated with condensation. On the left is a glass jar with some melted chocolate, topped with a wooden lid. It sits on a white envelope. All four objects rest on a window sill where the wall painted green meets the large window that looks out onto the garden. The garden is wet and the plumbago bush is a shiny, bright breen. Its blue flowers are drooping. All the trees are different textures but are a shiny, wet green too. A two storey house with white walls stands tall; it is angular and rigid behind the sprawling branches, but echoes the straight lines of the large window. An orange light bulb is reflected on the glass surface of the window, floating on top of everything. 

IV

Two plastic water bottles sit on my window sill. They present themselves as evidence of my bad habit: buying water when I’m out, thirsty, and my metal Kleen Kanteen thermos is left forgotten at home. Even worse, I always stop drinking until there are only a few mouthfuls left. The leftover water collects on the sides of the incriminating bottles. Next to the blue Mount Franklin and flimsy Frantelle is a glass jar and a white envelope I use to catch flies that make their way inside my room. The jar has a smudge of chocolate from when it used to store biscuits. The envelope juts over the sill, leaving a small shadow that’s about as thick as a thumb. The wall is painted a colour called ‘Melon Green’ by Taubmans, and the window frame is a deep, cool brown called ‘Rocky Road’. The window looks out onto the backyard and the first thing you might see is a plumbago bush with sticky, blue flowers that inevitably catch on your clothes. It rained earlier so the whole garden is covered in a dull light, but all the leaves are a vibrant green against the grey sky. Beyond all this is a two storey house with white walls and a big deck. A few years ago, a tree fell leaving behind a wide, open space for the neighbours to look through and see me writing. My light is on and is reflected on the window pane. It impossibly hovers on top of the whole scene—an orange moon with a fuzzy halo.

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