Friday, July 22, 2011

The darkroom

"Where did you get the old cameras?" Abby asked Tom, looking around his living room.

"My dad. He collected them."  he said, pouring her a glass of champagne. "They're really old, from the 60's I think."


Abby smiled, "They look like they're in great shape. Do they work?"

"Yeah, they still take great pictures." he said, picking up the camera and snapping a few shots.

Where do you get the film developed?" she asked curiously, knowing most people have abandoned old 35mm cameras for digital.

"I do it here. I converted a closet into a dark room. I still like to play around with film and developing. The process is really relaxing."

He smiled, "It reminds me of my dad. We used to hang out in the dark room when I was a kid." he set the camera back down and took a sip of champagne. 

Abby laughed, "I took a photography class in college. Dated the PA so I could get extra time in the lab. I wouldn't say it was relaxing though! I never really mastered getting the film into the spool. Something about being in that pitch black skinny tube with the film just freaked me out. " she said laughing. "I liked the developing room a lot better."

Tom laughed, "You don't have to do it like that anymore. You can transfer the film in a bag." he said laughing "With the lights on."

Abby jumped up, "Ooooh, can I see your darkroom?" her big brown eyes begging. She adjusted her short skirt as she stood.

"This way?" she said as she started down the hall.

"Uh, it's a mess in there. You don't want to go in there." Tom said, running after her, grabbing her hand. "Come back and sit down. We can get some great shots of the sunset from here." he said patting the floor.

"Okay. I would love to see it. It's been a while." she said laughing, disappointed.

They layed silently on the floor together, legs touching, sipping champagne and watching the sky change color. Waiting for the perfect shot.

The evening air was cool on her bare legs.

The floor was cold like the champagne bubbles.

"Abby," Tom whispered. "Hello?"

She was staring out the window, her mind closed off to the present, wandering.

How messy could it be?

Maybe he didn't want her to see his pictures....


Today's TRDC prompt: Write a short fiction or non-fiction piece inspired by any or all of the photo. Word limit: 400 words.  I really struggled with this one!  The picture seemed a little mysterious with the coloring, the pose, the old and unfamiliar cameras. Ugh! Please bring on the concrit.

3 comments:

  1. Loved the mystery lurking in the closet!

    I found the switch from 3rd person to 1st person jarring after the 1st two lines of dialogue. And I wondered why if in college darkrooms freaked her out why she would want to see his darkroom, maybe if she asked to see some of his pictures and he turned her down?

    I loved the image of them drinking champagne and waiting for the perfect shot.

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  2. Hopefully I fixed some of the really bad stuff.
    - Kris

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  3. I love the description of them sitting together, and I liked her description of her experience with her photography class.

    I felt like the dialogue was a little stilted, but that's a hard thing to do (well, at least for me) and make it sound natural all the time.

    Nice job!

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Thanks for your feedback!

~Kris