Click.
The familiar sound of my camera rings in my ear.
Click, Click.
The theater kids, move around, trying to pose, some of them make funny faces and one yells “cheese” while showing me the peace sign. I don’t stay still and mirror them, moving side to side. “Ahem!” the teacher makes, in a failed attempt to grasp everyone’s attention. “Max isn’t here for fun, she’s taking photos for the school’s website to show how beautiful theater can be! Which she will only be able to do if you start taking it seriously. That way more students might join us.” Some of the people start rolling their eyes while secretly grinning at me, which I reciprocate with a small smile. My eyes wander off to the teacher, who seems to be waiting for some kind of approval from my side. “Well”, I begin, while looking at my peers again.
“I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with a few photos where it’s visible, that your students are having fun in your class. And accompanied by a few shots of your professional acting, it will be the perfect mix that will most likely attract other students.”The teacher blinks a few times, before sighing and then waving with his hand in defeat. The students take it as an answer to grimace again and fall into dramatic poses at which I smile fondly.
“Has anyone seen Selene? The play is about to begin. Everyone shares unsure glances when someone suddenly yells: “The last time I saw her, she was changing.” “Can somebody check on her? Our guests will arrive soon”, the teacher pleads. After that everybody starts to prepare, for the upcoming event, and I manage to make a few great shots of the cast, even one with my Polaroid camera, which I had inherited from my grandpa not too long ago. After I’m done I decide to go home and change for the play.
After an hour passes I arrive at the campus again where I am met with bright colors of red and blue and an insufferable sound that I recognize as the siren of an ambulance. Little groups of people stand together, whispering with shock-widened eyes, horrified by what was happening. I slowly step forward, while observing the event. The ambulance is parked at the side of the street and two paramedics carry something heavy. With a closer look, I recognize that what they are carrying is a body bag. Staring in disbelief at the scene, I am suddenly far away from it, troubled with thousands of questions: How did it happen, why did it happen, and who was in the body bag? ” How did this happen?”, I say mildly loud, and a few students share unsure glances with me, before shrugging. Then suddenly someone whispers behind me. “That’s Selene Woods.” Another wave of shocks sweeps over me and my jaw tightens. I step another few meters away, trying to get away from the crowd. My first instinct is to go home, to ignore whatever is happening there, but my feet refuse to move. Something won’t let me. And then suddenly my Polaroid camera that is hanging around my neck starts to heat up and an idea pops up in my head, one that doesn’t quite make sense.
I take the camera into my hands, look through the lens, and take a shot.
© Valeria Leimann 2023-08-30