Provenance Ravi Mangla
There is a story I want to write, have been meaning to write, of a man
who is visited by the past inhabitants of his house. Day after day, new
people arrive, each with a unique relationship to the property. When I
picture the story in my head, I imagine it taking place not in the house
where I currently reside (bungalow, mid-century, blue), but instead the one
where I grew up—a house I haven't stepped foot in for twenty (give or take)
years. At the very end of the story, the past occupants gather in a circle
around the man. The feeling is supposed to be one of dread and foreboding
(think bargain-rate Kafka). But the more I think about it, the less
unnerving the ending seems. For, at the very least, the man will no longer
be alone.
Ravi Mangla is the author of the novel UNDERSTUDIES. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic,
The Nation, Salon and many others.
Read more of his work in the archive.
Detail of image of nitrate film from the
Turconi Project.
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