Places You Tell People You Love Them
By Safiyya Bintali
It's a common notion that 'home' is defined by what invokes feeling: the people, the memories — the non-physical. A physical place, after all, changes; its atmosphere is structured by what we build within it. As someone who moved often during childhood, physical place has always fascinated me. Rarely have I returned to a physical place after leaving, and so place has always bordered more on the metaphysical. Place has always been others' as opposed to mine, filled with the memories and experiences of strangers that I liked to imagine. It must be special to walk into a place and know it so well, to relive a feeling, even if it's negative, the essence of old memory coloring your perception as you grow — to revisit with a friend the place you told someone you no longer speak to that you love them; to go somewhere alone first, then with a loud, sparkling group of others years later; to have a sandwich in a cafe at 17, then one in that same cafe at 21. Vegas is the place I have lived the longest, and though I find myself revisiting places more often than I have in the past, its fantastic sense of the physical place is something I continue to enjoy. And I wonder how many stories even a less popular Station Casino can hold…
Safiyya “Saff” Bintali is a writer and artist. Her short fiction and comics have been featured in Bridge Eight Press, October Hill Magazine, and Las Vegas Writes, among others. She is also the illustrator of Fabulous Fables and Fairytales: With a Twist (Grosvenor House Publishing, 2022). Also an educator, Safiyya guest lectures and teaches high school English, in addition to having completed a creative residency with Tiny Spoon literary magazine in 2022. In her free time, she enjoys reading and video games. You can find more of her work on SafiyyaBintali.com.
