From time to time I write a short story in my home language of Afrikaans. Sometimes I translate it into English. The essence of the story is sometimes lost with the translation, but sometimes a new and different work is created which can stand on its own.
This free write short story, which is kind of surreal and horror-ish was inspired by a recent conversation I had with a friend here on hive, @insaneworks (who I am shamelessly tagging here). The story took a different route from what I originally planned, but I think it turned out very interesting, very weird, and it was just a fun little piece of writing. Without further ado, please enjoy!
Through the Camera Lens
John looks through the camera lens, but something isn’t right. For a moment he tries to figure out what's going on, but he lets the feeling go. He simply has to get the picture. He couldn't miss the moment.
After spending thousands of dollars on camera equipment, plane tickets, bus rides, and the book offer, he is now standing in the middle of the Kruger national park with a wildlife tour guide next to him. He is where he needs to be.
It is six o'clock in the morning, and the early morning air makes him feel alive, but the fact that he could die at any moment gives him an extra drop of adrenaline.
Nobody says a word.
Three breaths; his own, the wildlife tour guide, and his girlfriend’s. She wanted to come with. The grass is wet and sticks to his shoes. It is cold but not unpleasant.
The silence makes him feel vulnerable, but they move forward slowly.
Suddenly, what they came for emerged in front of them.
He presses his eye against the camera and begins to focus on the scene that will most likely take place at any moment. The lioness is lying ready to attack, and a herd of bucks is not far away from them. They might become part of the hunt, but he is willing to take the risk to capture the perfect moment. This is the last puzzle piece he needs to finish the book. The printers are waiting for him, and after this, his manager can't give him shit anymore. He simply must get this photograph.
Then again that strange feeling. What's going on, he wonders. It is more intense this time. It feels like he is moving out of his body, but as quickly as the feeling was there, it was gone.
Pull yourself together, he tells himself.
The lioness slowly crawls forward, and he presses the shutter button to not miss any of the action he knows will happen. But it is in vain. Nothing happens. He takes a deep breath to let the tension out of his body.
He takes another deep breath. The lioness stands up. Now! He thinks. She starts and then he takes off. He holds the shutter button down and in a moment of 2 minutes, he records every movement. Exactly what he came for. He's got it, he's got it! He says to himself.
The buck is on the ground underneath the lioness. John watches the scene that has played out, his camera at the side of his body. He takes the last moments in without photographing them.
He has it, he thinks again. The photo he had been waiting for so long is in his possession. Now he can finish this part of his life.
Then the strange feeling again. It is as if he was getting out of his body. Maybe it's the adrenaline, the tension that is now leaving his body. He pulls himself back into his shoes, or so it felt. He looks at the scene unfolding in front of him.
But then, all of sudden, a strange thought comes to his mind, one he cannot understand, What am I doing here?
He looks around and sees the wildlife tour guide and his girlfriend standing close to him. Something strange hangs at his side, a black device he cannot place. He looks at the scene before him. He suddenly does not know why he is there.
"Where am I," he shouted aloud.
His girlfriend and the wildlife tour guide look around in surprise. They cannot comprehend what has just happened. Absolute silence must be maintained so as not to make the wildlife aware of them. And here he speaks out loud. What has gotten into him?
But to him all of this is strange, he does not know who these two are. He moves backward.
"Who are you two," he asks as he moved backward. He knocks himself against a tree that is behind him.
The two are still looking at him in utter surprise. He suddenly turns around and starts running away, but he doesn't know where he is. He clings to the strange device as if it might help and somehow protect him. But everything is strange to him.
The two are gone, he is now alone. The sun shines into his eyes when he looks to the left. He turns away from the sun, it is hanging low on the horizon and symbolizes the early morning. Something moves behind him, and he turns around.
There is nothing, he feels the sweat dripping down his back. He again clutches the device around his neck.
He looks down and sees the device. He picks it up and presses it against his eye, he doesn't know why he did it. His finger finds a button, he then presses it. The world in front of him bleeds and flows together. He falls to his knees, but his eyes remain glued to the device. Colour as it normally appeared to him disappears and a neon-colored world is exposed in front of him.
He suddenly feels himself moving higher and higher, out of his body. He begins to see himself. He looks down and sees his body where it is on its knees all the while looking through that black device.
What a strange thought.
He then flies higher and higher until he is not close to himself but can still see himself. Something out of the corner of his eye catches his attention. A four-legged creature stalks him. Not him in the sky, but his other self. His body is still standing on its knees in the field below him. He wants to scream but can't move his body. He can't do anything. He just looks.
The four-legged creature abruptly jumps onto him and begins to devour the body. He doesn't feel anything. The scene that unfolds doesn't make sense, but he keeps on watching. He cannot believe it is him, what is happening?
He falls back into his shoes, but at that same moment, the pain overwhelms him. Blood, overwhelming pain, the stench, then nothing.
His camera falls to the side of his body. Sticky with blood. The lioness slowly walks away from the scene and the camera continues to record. The moment the lioness attacked him, John hit the “record” button.
The End
As noted, English is not my first language. Please give me any tips, I need them! I hope it was a good read. The two sketches are my own and the writing as well. For now, stay safe and happy writing!
@tipu curate
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Thank you so much for this! I appreciate it.
To be so inside photographing and wanting to take that perfect photo so much that you loose yourself in so many ways and in the end, literally too! Such a great story and narration of a tiny moment of the main characters life and his obsession. I love the story!
Thank you so much I really appreciate it! It was a silly write just to keep the writing muscles in shape. I loved the idea of one being so in the moment of photographing something that you lose the memory of the event but remember the photographing element of the event. Such a surreal idea.
You're welcome!