Appreciation post: the little free library in downtown Portland

I walked past this one little free library on 12th and Morrison about 6 times before I actually stopped to look inside. It was painted bright red with a tiny roof, almost like a dollhouse. There was a worn copy of "The Martian" sitting there with a sticky note on it that said "this book got me through a bad breakup." That little detail made me want to use it as a prompt for a story about strangers leaving their emotions in books. Has anyone else found a physical place that sparked a whole writing idea for you?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lucas5d ago

Found a signed copy of "Moby Dick" once. Couldn't even get past chapter 3.

elliot_taylor5d ago

Right, so I was rolling through a rest stop outside of Boise one time and this little library was just sitting there next to a picnic table, barely holding together with duct tape. Inside was a beat-up copy of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" with someone's phone number scribbled in the margin and a note that just said "call if you get it." I stood there for like fifteen minutes trying to figure out who wrote it and what they meant, and it got me thinking about all the half-finished conversations people leave in those boxes. It's like a little window into someone's brain that you'll never get to climb through completely. That kind of thing just STICKS with you for days.