Faded Story
Matthew Ryan Fischer
The picture had faded and it was to become a problem for Derrick and Lisa
alike. One that neither of them would
have a solution for. It was not an old
picture. Lisa and Derrick had taken it mere
weeks before. They were sharing a
toasted avocado and tomato sandwich over a couple of cups of coffee. Derrick had taken several pictures. Most of the shots were while Lisa was eating,
much to her chagrin. Derrick had an
annoying sense of humor sometimes, but it was mostly harmless. And despite her protests, Lisa really thought
it was cute and kind of fun and disarming to take photographs when there was
the potential for embarrassment. It made
it seem more real. And that’s what she
wanted, for this new found relationship to be real.
And so, despite any mock protests, they ended up taking a lot of
photographs that day. This became a
process that reoccurred often over their next few weeks together. For whatever reason, Derrick and Lisa always
seemed to end up having lunch together and he always seemed to have a camera
handy. Derrick still liked to take
photographs with actual film. He thought
film was more authentic than digital.
Derrick and Lisa had only been together a short time, but they worked
incredibly well together. They shared
the same sense of humor, and the same sensibilities. They had fun together and understood how the
other one thought. Strangers who saw them
thought they were an old couple. It was
a great compliment for a relationship that was so young. Neither wanted to say it yet, but both
privately thought this might be the sort of relationship to last.
One night Derrick set about developing his captured moments. He made prints for them both and gave Lisa
the gift of a series of pictures of them together. Their relationship was young, but the gift
was perceived as romantic.
Then it began.
Derrick put a picture of them both on the mantel in his apartment. Within a few days the image had faded. It made no sense. There was hardly any direct sunlight that
would hit the photograph and even if there had been it should have taken a much
longer time for sun fading to occur.
Derrick didn’t understand it, but he didn’t worry too much about it,
simply making a mental note to make another copy of the photograph for himself.
Derrick was pale the next day. He
looked sick. As the day wore on, his
appearance grew worse and worse and his co-workers began to worry about
him. Derrick didn’t feel bad, but he
made an appointment to see a doctor just in case.
Lisa didn’t look bad that day, but she felt really sick. She nearly passed out while walking to her
office and was sent home to rest. Lisa
fell asleep on her couch, a framed picture of the two of them sitting on her
coffee table looking directly at her.
Over the next several days Lisa’s and Derrick’s health grew worse. At the same time, the second print began to
fade as well. They contacted each other
and wished the other a speedy recovery.
Lisa ignored Derrick’s protests and went to be with him – she didn’t
care if they made each other sicker, she missed him and was willing to take
that risk.
While sitting on Derrick’s couch, Lisa noticed the series of photographs
were all fading. She struggled to stand
and weakly crossed the room to investigate.
She picked up the third picture just as Derrick returned to the room. Startled by his voice, she dropped the
picture. The glass broke and the frame
cracked. Lisa’s legs gave out and she
fell to the ground. Derrick rushed to
her side, but paused, frightened. Lisa’s
face was a pale white. The third picture
was blank.
When Lisa woke, Derrick told her what he saw and they tried to make some
sort of sense of what was happening.
Certain cultures had been afraid of mirrors and thought they stole a
person’s soul. When cameras were
invented, some refused to be photographed for the same reason. Neither Lisa nor Derrick understood what was
happening, but they knew something was wrong with them and the photographs and
somehow the two were linked.
Lisa knew it was too soon in the relationship to tell him that she loved
him, but she was worried she wouldn’t have a chance later. They kissed and held each other and cried. But trembled with fear and grew weaker.
The fourth photograph faded.
Derrick lost consciousness. At
first she was afraid he was dead, but instead he was in a strange sort of
trance. Lisa was weak and unable to
revive him. She tried to reach her phone,
but her strength was fading fast. Her
body ached. She was dizzy and her vision
was started to fail her.
Lisa took the fifth and final photo out of its frame and crumpled it
up. She had no idea what would happen to
either of them, but she no longer really cared.
No comments:
Post a Comment