When I was at my high school, smoking culture was big. We used to have a smoke spot, that was sold by the school to the municipality, so that smoking was legal, by not technically being on school grounds. 
Why this smoke spot is interesting to me is the annual metamorphosis from being a space to being a place. On September 1st, when school starts, students inhabit the grassy land, use it, hang out, smoke, throw cigarette buts on the ground... slowly the grass gets so beat up it stops growing, winter creeps in and takes away the shade from the trees, the space gets kind of empty and sad. But what keeps it going are constant groups of students hanging about and inhabiting the place. It is therefore alive. When spring comes and grass starts to grow in the surrounding land, the ground stays full of dirt and cigarette buts on the smoke spot (čikplac), which still indicates the presence of inhabitants. When summer comes and school ends, cigarette buts are removed (cleaned probably), grass starts to grow, trees throw more and more shade, the space gets more ambiental but uninhabited, awaiting its awakening on September 1st.

The cabinets of the hallway are filled with old photographs. 

Memories flood you each time you pass.

One morning, I noticed how the sunlight was focused on a particular frame.

The one with me and my sister as kids outside our old home, I'm wearing a pink dress and she is in her jean suit. 

I've never spoken about her with love, words have always been hard to articulate.

The past seems to haunt me often. 

But the sunlight was so sweet that day, her face bright with a smile.
It reminded me of the smiles we used to share instead of tears, the screams of laughter instead of anger. 

I could see her again & I was reminded that the darkness of the past will always haunt you unless you shed light on it.

?

Winner of the fourth prize of the A-Place Mapping contest "Share your experiences of domestic places" 2022