Chapter One – Evasion
A sultry wind blew through the stillness of the park, stirring paled leaves and whispering into the evening sky. Only a few children were playing that evening at the park; swinging and clutching blissfully onto the monkey bars and swings with excited smiles. The entire park lay on a thick bed of golden sand, encased my distasteful black borders; borders that shielded the sand from the curvy blades of ripe grass sprouting up from the smooth ground. Broad trees littered the entire area, specifically Sakura, or cherry blossom trees. Every flower outlined with a halo of golden light from the receding sun; a sun that was casting a brilliant plethora of warm layered colors into the sky.
Flash
Through the soft glow the Earth's fading light, the flash went almost unregistered by the frolicking children, however, a few stopped to glance at the young photographer clad in simple garments; wielding an active camera with a warm expression. Because of the children's innocence, they were unable to tell if she was beautiful, but they knew that she was easy on the eyes. She emitted a soft glow herself, one that stood out from the faltering sun. Her face had a classic quality, with basic features that in themselves, were simple and natural.
After the short pause, the children resumed their actions and the amateur photographer moved on; but not before taking a lasting glance at the simple beauty of a Sunday evening under the rays of the wavering sun. Clutching her supply bag, she marched on.
She stuffed her camera into her bag, content with her work.
- Beginning Second Point of View -
By the time you reached home, no light remained in the sky. You smiled, now being able to enjoy your favorite time of day; nighttime. Glancing up at the freckled sky, you caught sight of Earth's satellite in all of its shining glory. Your hand twitched, silently wishing to seize your camera and capture this moment while it lasted.
Giving off a dreamy sigh, you unzipped the zipper of your trusty bag; trusty was the perfect name for it. It had a pale adventuring green, its fabric was worn was it appeared to have roughly a thousand stitches. Yet, despite your fellow photographer friends and your family, you refused to toss it away. It held too many memories. You were a highly materialistic person; that much you knew about yourself. Yet, you tried not to bother or disturb others with your love for your items; everyone couldn't understand how highly you prized everything of value.
Value
That's what you always tried to achieve in your pictures, but not only that:
Beauty
That was you main goal: to capture beauty in its prime. As a young, amateur photographer, you'd been told many times that your goals, at their root were simple, but the actual dream itself were something powerful and difficult to strive for. In everyone's eyes, beauty slightly differed. People had different views, different tastes, and various preferences. Capturing one picture that appealed to all or even capturing a picture that undoubtedly held magnificence and sheer beauty was nearly impossible.
You shook your head, realizing that you had been staring at your door for about five minutes with your camera still clutched in your hands. You set it up; turning it on and aiming it towards the sky---at the moon. You frowned; sadly, the moon had been shrouded by a thick blanket of clouds. You slowly placed your camera back into its place and opened your door, excited no longer.
The second you stepped in, you were greeted by the perfect example of child innocence. Miyako, your younger sister; she came bouncing into your view, auburn hair twirling merrily behind her as she began to question you. "Did you take any good pictures today?" You smiled, nodding your head in response and patting her on the head. "Today was a lovely day, everything came out perfect."
"You never have a bad day of taking photos! Lucky you," You scratched your head nervously at your other, older sister's statement, "Aw, come on, Megumi-san, I've had quite a few. Remember that one time in July, last year?" You frowned when you heard Megumi crack up at the memory; in seconds she was bursting out laughing. "Hey, it's not that funny!" You exclaimed, blushing in embarrassment.
July: that had been your worst month for picture taking. It must have been the alignment of the planets… or something… you constantly kept dropping your camera, in the wrong places. The worst event was when the camera, on a rainy day you might add, dropped into a puddle… in the middle of the road. Due to your materialistic behavior, you blindly hopped into the streets and tried to snatch your camera before it became flattened. Sadly though, luck that day hadn't been on your side and a car came hurtling toward you! The car, spotting you, screeched and sharply turned in the other direction, halting quickly afterwards.
Just as you were about to walk up to the car, which by the way was a Dodge—ironic huh?---and apologize, the driver did the honors and flew out of his car, mad as a bull and marched right up to you. Everything would've been easy to sort out… if the person you had inconvenienced actual spoke the same language as you. Sadly though, English wasn't a language you majored in…
And so, for the next, oh… thirty minutes, you the American argued with and while you just kept trying to apologize. Did you also know that your sister was right there too, laughing to death? She'd said your expression had been priceless. "Ahh…. That day," your older sister started, "I seriously wished that I had a camera; then I would've been able to take a picture of that! That would've been real beauty!" You gave her a stale expression while slipping your bags off. "Gee thanks, just what I needed today; a dose of your unfunny humor."
"You know you love it... it's you wake up in the morning for!" You chuckled, "Yeah, and it's what keeps me unable to sleep at night." You retorted quickly with a devious smile. Your sister grinned, enjoying your snappy comebacks with utmost delight. That was the nature of your relationship with your sister. You could always joke around with her and speak to her about anything. You two were closer than anything: and your younger sister? You had unconditional love for her; she was only seven and therefore was so innocent... she'd ask simply adorable questions and she'd be so clueless at times. You couldn't help but smile at her.
Living this way made you happy; it was just the three of you. Your parents, only three years ago, had passed away in a car accident. It had been devastating, but luckily, Miyako had only been four at the time; so she didn't have to suffer from the same pain that Megumi and you had to go through.
She was too young to understand death and the world's complexities; but regardless of her young age at the time of their death, she was curious about her parents. She wanted to learn about them; and it was painful to explain it to her. Due to my profession, you had hundreds of pictures of them. It sometimes felt as if their essence was in the pictures; it was like they never left.
The rest of the night proceeded nicely; you played a couple of games with Miyako [you tried to avoid monopoly at all cost; the game was too tiring] and you developed a few photos in the second bathroom. Being in a room completely illuminated by crimson was like a reprieve for you. And by the time you went to sleep, you were at peace.
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The next day by noon, you were in the nearest park snapping a few pictures. There were elderly people sitting quietly on benches tossing feed to pigeons with crooked tooth smiles and hunched backs. The birds flapped wildly around the park, but didn't fly away as you walked past them. There were other people near as well, chatting merrily with each other or idly strolling by.
A woman carrying a handbag, clad in black hip-hugging jeans and a black turtle neck with a grey scarf, sluggishly walked through the park. Her arms were behind her and her fingers were clasped tight. She passed by the playgrounds and robust trees with a genuine smile.
Flash
'This is beauty.' You thought with a ghost of a smile as the flash registered. 'The sheer beauty of contentment; there is nothing more beautiful than this.' You kept your eyes on the lenses and began searching for new interesting and fresh shots. You skillfully took a few shots. You tried a new angles and using the light around you as a tool to highlight the photos. Suddenly, the camera slipped out of your fingers. You managed the catch the edge of it, but a flash of red in the lens caught your eyes. Placing the glass near your eyes again, you caught sight of red again; you zoomed in.
Wow.
It was a person who'd caught your eyes. A male; his hair was an astonishing crimson and his eyes were a striking emerald. His posture was that of a strong yet, friendly person. His aura was pleasant and he appeared to be soft spoken. He was wearing a magenta outfit, a color that greatly suited him. He was casually leaning on a tree while using swift hand movements as his lips moved in conversation. He was surrounded by three other people; and they were an odd bunch to say the least.
One of them had his hair slicked back and a green jumpsuit. His laidback posture and cocky grin suggested that he was full of attitude. The person next to him, a rather unattractive person, was the tallest of the bunch; clad in a blue jumpsuit, he looked almost clueless. The person next to the redhead was the shortest. His height was drastically different form theirs and his hair was something to raise a brow over. Talk about defying gravity... His hair was pointed upward, sharp appearing and with a large white starburst right at the center. He was clad in a black coat and had an icy expression.
You focused your lens on redhead and quickly snapped a photo. It was as if he was sent to this park to contradict your very assumptions about beauty. He himself was a treasure. He was a Jem, a jewel; something simply too beatific and equally complex to describe. His lavishing red tresses, his graceful facial features and attitude; you had captured it with just a few shots. You were more than contented now.
This was once again, another wonderful day of photo taking. You smiled.
You looked at his other friends again, when you realized that one of them had locked eyes with you. Flash! You finger had clicked the 'capture' button by accident, but the rest of your body froze; were they offended----at the simple act of taking pictures? You wanted to doubt it, but as the shortest one of the group gave you the most hateful expression, you slowly began placing your camera into your bag. His eyes were a shade of red.
Snap!
You entire camera slid out of your hands, broken into a million pieces before it had even hit the ground. Your eyes widened, staring at the broken camera with immense confusion. The computer chips, film, and overall structure of the camera had been shattered. You glanced back up at the stranger to discover that he and his whole group had disappeared. You were baffled; how could he break my camera? Did he? Why are they being evasive?
You tried keeping your mind on the beautiful day after the incident had passed, but after you realized that most of the film you had used had been shredded, it was anything but easy. You marched home, a flame of discontentment roaring through your eyes. Nothing was more depressing to an artist than losing some of the pieces that they had spent time constructing and capturing.
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"I seriously don't believe you."
"Great, just what I needed, disbelief; the absence of a camera should be a convincing clue." Your older sister sighed, "People can't break items with their eyes, Naomi. It's impossible." She explained while fumbling with the shattered pieces of what formally used to be your camera.
"Trust me. I just looked at the guy and my camera suddenly burst into a million pieces. It's not that crazy!" You were frustrated, not only were your work demolished, but your story brought nothing but skepticism. "Listen to yourself; ever consider that the camera was faulty? Maybe the person who had sold it to you is responsible." You frowned, "I doubt it, but I'll confront the salesman regardless." You muttered a weak 'thanks' and walked into your developing room. You placed the few strips of film that weren't completely torn up in there a few hours ago; maybe some of your work was still there.
You were now on your knees, dipping the pictures in water carefully. After minutes, large fragmented objects were revealing themselves in the pictures. You managed the salvage the only half of the picture of the woman walking idly in the park with her handbag, but your pictures of the red haired stranger had been lost...
Wait...
The last picture... it was him! His mouth was slightly open from conversation and his attention was towards his friends; his hand was captured in the middle of a gesture; he looked somewhat serious, as if he was debating a topic of importance. He was so perfect. Even the simple gestures he made was saturated in flawlessness; and with this picture, you'd be able to hold onto his image... you stared at the picture for about five minutes before a dim yellow light spilled into the developing room.
"So, how did the pictures turn out?" Megumi questioned. You sharply turned to Megumi, "Close the door!" She quickly walked in, closing the door behind her swiftly. "I'm sorry!" You sighed, "Don't worry about it; it didn't damage anything. Just be careful next time." She nodded, kneeling down next to me. She took a quick glance at the salvaged pictures, "Whoa, it that the person you think destroyed the pictures? He's hot..." She asked, staring at the redhead.
"No, it wasn't him; it was one of his friends."
Megumi smirked, "Well, if his friends are as sexy as him, give me a camera and send me to the park to snap a couple of photos..." You grinned, "Now, now Megumi, I'll allow you to take a picture of them, but they have to have their clothes on; you pervert." Megumi scoffed, "Don't lie and say that you didn't picture him naked; I know how your mind works."
"Hey! I am not a pervert." Megumi rolled her eyes, "You don't date anyone, you haven't crushed on anyone for the longest time; give me a break, you know how you were." You suddenly frowned, eyes dull. A few years back, you had actually been somewhat boy-crazed. You crushed on a lot of boys; you had been a normal girl. But after your parents died your carefree attitude and your desire to pursue boys faded quickly. You mind became consumed with more important things like career choices and family; you had to grow up more quickly than others.
Megumi took the hint and quickly regretted her words, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." You waved off her words, "Don't worry about it." You stopped talking for a while, both you and Megumi silently reminiscing about the past.
"We shouldn't think about it." Megumi stated softly; you pursed your lips. "We have to; otherwise we'll always fell horrible when we think about it. We have to get used to the idea." Megumi faintly nodded while glancing down and fumbling her finger tips. "You're right"
Shortly after that, Megumi left and you hung the pictures up. There was still half the day ahead of you and you had to speak with the person who'd sold you the camera. Maybe it had all been a strange coincidence? Even so, why were they being evasive? What did they have to hide? Either way, your camera was demolished and someone had to be responsible.
