Bella is a young artist who makes ends nearly meet by working part-time in a bookstore. She's recently moved in with her bicycle messenger boyfriend Chain and his eccentric dog Monkey, both of whom seem to know more than they're letting on about the mysterious things that begin to happen to her late in October as strangers begin to take an eerie interest in the mixed-media projects she's working on. A learned mystic named Harry Smith moves in downstairs and begins to give talks at the bookstore about the occult patterns of the universe, Easter eggs, patchwork, and paper airplanes, and also to warn her cryptically about the implications of her work.. The City seems to hold more mysteries for her than ever before, and Monkey behaves more and more oddly -- come to think of it, so does Chain . . .
This is an epistolary novel. You can read it two ways: either as chapters, in straight chronological order, or as three interconnected livejournals kept by Bella, Chain, and an anonymous omniscient observer. Links to everything are below:
