“Caught on Camera”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

I back up against the wall, basking in the sunlight.

“Tammi, take my picture!” I call.

My best friend rolls her eyes at me. “You take pictures every two seconds. Don’t you have enough by now?”

I shake my head. “Nope, you can never have too many pictures. Just think of all the memories that we’re saving!”

“Yeah, memories of taking pictures of you,” Tammi grumbles.

I chuckle at her playful exasperation. “Come on, Tammi, it won’t take long.”

She sighs. “Alright, but I want to get back home before it gets dark.”

I stare at her. “Tam, it’s the middle of the day. We’ve still got hours before it gets dark.”

She shrugs. “If you say so.” She positions her phone and calls, “Are you ready?”

I jump into position before nodding. “Ready.”

I smile brightly as I hear the familiar click of the phone’s camera. I strike a few more poses before Tammi stops.

“I took, like, a hundred pictures of you,” she says. “Can we go now?”

I jog over to her. “Let me see them.”

She shows me her phone. I take it from her and flip through the pictures.

“Tam, these are awful,” I say, frowning as I scroll through her camera roll.

As I scroll, my eyes fall on one of the pictures right above where mine begin. It’s a picture of a necklace. I click on the picture to see it better and my eyes narrow.

“Tam, when did you take this picture?” I ask her, slowly turning the phone so that she can see.

Immediately, she freezes and her eyes widen. “I, er, don’t know,” she stutters. “Why?”

I stare her directly in the eye. “This is my necklace,” I say, my voice low. “Why do you have a picture of it?”

She shrugs, avoiding my eyes. “I don’t know. Are you sure you didn’t ask me to take a picture of it?”

I feel a growl building in the back of my throat. “You know I didn’t. Now, I’m not going to ask again: Why do you have a picture of my necklace?”

Tammi just shakes her head. She slowly starts backing away from me.

I feel her phone crumple in my fist. I toss the useless piece of garbage to the side and advance on Tammi.

“You’re lying!” I roar, towering over her.

She lets out a scream as I advance on her, feeling my rage build.

Then, I release the wolf and pounce.

Final Comments: This one was weird. I thought that I would incorporate the actual text from the picture when I first started writing, but then it seemed to become more and more irrelevant to the plot. I think that this one just took a weird turn and I don’t especially like it…

Overall Rating: 😑