The Unpaired Stories

Read the latest story: Boy’s White, Blue and Gray Sock. East Third Street. It Touched Off a Spark.

A dropped glove, a misplaced sock, a discarded shoe and other, stranger unpaired objects inspire these stories of the lost and found, the forgotten and remembered, the separated and united. The pictures appear below in the order the stories were published. You can also read the latest weekly story, see pictures for upcoming stories, find the pictures and stories on a map and learn more about this project. If you would like to receive an email when a new story is published, please fill out this form.

All the stories in order

Story 1: Gold glitten. Third Street. Its Mate Was in Her Pocket for 245 Days
Story 2: Blue knit child’s glove. East Third Street. Emma dropped it 17 days ago.
Story 3: Boy’s white, blue and gray sock. East Third Street. It became a science experiment.
Story 4: Blue Knit Glove. East Third Street. They Decided to Leave it.
Story 5: Black sock. West Sixth Street. Alex Thought It Was in His Duffel
Story 6: Brown work glove. Fifth and Washington. She Dropped It the Previous Evening.
Story 7: Black Knit Glove. Fifth and Washington. She Was Happy When She Dropped it.
Story 8: Hamburger Bun (Bottom Half). North Hayes Street. He Threw It as a Distraction.
Story 9: Ten of Spades. Pullman Road. He Didn’t Know He Had It.
Story 10: Windshield Wiper Blade. West Sixth Street. She Never Knew Where it Went.
Story 11: White Knit Glove. West Sixth Street. It Was the Victim of a Teachable Moment.
Story 12: Boy's White, Blue and Gray Sock. East Third Street. The Result of the Experiment
Story 13: Black Glove. Paradise Path. They Went Back and Found it.
Story 14: Purple Earplug. West Sixth Street. He May Wish He Hadn't Lost It.
Story 15: Blue Striped Mitten. South Monroe Street. Edward Was Partially Responsible.
Story 16: Purple Knit Glove. West Sweet Avenue. She Needed Her Skin to be Exposed.
Story 17: Black Leather Glove. East First Street. It Had Hidden Value.
Story 18: Child's Gray Sock. South Main Street. He Was Almost Late.
Story 19: Brown Work Glove. South Main Street. It Turned Out She Never Missed It.
Story 20: Gray Mitten. East Third and Van Buren Streets. She Only Lost It Briefly.
Story 21: Gray Sock. Chipman Trail. He Accepted a Replacement.
Story 22: Black and Gray Knit Glove. West A and Jackson Streets. She Hoped She Didn’t Need It.
Story 23: Boy's White, Blue and Gray Sock. East Third Street. It Touched Off a Spark.

 

About unpaired

My name is David Harlan. I’m a writer and photographer (among other pursuits) who lives in Moscow, Idaho. I’ve been walking the sidewalks of Moscow for the past 11 years. I walk a lot – more than 20,000 miles since I started using a tracker in 2012.

In all those miles, I see things. Many mundane things. Many lovely things. Many strange things. I see my neighbors and their pets. I see nature at her most boring and her most extreme. I have seen crimes and car accidents and altercations. I once saw a large wad of cash fall out of a man’s pocket 100 yards ahead of me. I picked it up and ran up to him. I saw suspicion in his eyes as I handed the roll – certainly more than $1000 – back to him.

Blue knit glove. North Hayes Street. What’s its story?

And now, suddenly,  I am coming across many – many – “unpaired” things.

In the fall of 2017, I started to see – or more accurately I began to notice – single gloves abandoned on the path of my walks. One item, a child’s blue knit glove, was a constant companion. I would walk by it on North Hayes Street many times a day and I began to wonder about it. And as that wonder took hold, I realized that I was seeing other unpaired items and I started taking pictures. And THEN single socks began to appear. And then a shoe or two. More pictures. And then I started to notice and photograph even more esoteric unpaired items .

As the pictures of lonely items accumulated, I continued to wonder about the stories  behind those unpairings. And since I am unlikely to know the real stories behind any of these items. I decided to make the stories up.

The stories will be fiction, but each of these pictures is truly “found”. I didn’t manipulate anything. I saw each item as I walked past it. I took the picture.

So, the title of each story will be comprised of three facts. The the first two, a description of the item and its location, will be true. The third fact – whatever that may be – will be the beginning of the fiction.

Oh, and this: the places are real but used fictionally, and everything else is pure fiction. As they say in the movies, any similarities to persons living or dead is coincidental.

Enjoy. Share with your friends if you want. And let me know what you think.