The picture she took...

-Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever...it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.-

Life brought me here; lying in my own puddle of blood, gasping for air as I feel my lungs close up on me. I can feel that speck of life I've been so desperately trying to hold on to, diminish slowly with each labored breath I take. I can taste that ugly, metallic taste of the blood in my mouth which makes my stomach churn. The faint voices reach my ears but I can't seem to make out what they're saying. One voice in particular is very familiar but my overworked brain cannot match the voice with a face. My fingers sudenly feel numb as violent shudders jolt my whole body. I keep thinking this is the end and in my head I start saying goodbye to everyone who I love, mainly one person in particular. As I lie on the ground, in the pool of my own blood, I can't help but think of all the choices I had made that brought me here. This...is how it all began...

 *SNAP*

I took another picture as my finger eased up on the shutter release button. The sky suddenly became gloomy and I had to leave but at least I got some pretty pictures for my collection. I smiled as I tucked my camera into its bag and strapped it to my shoulder. If anything should happen to this baby, I would seriously die. And yes, you might laugh about my obsession with my camera but it was the only friend I had. The only thing that calmed me down so many sleepless nights. My mother used to say that I was too much obsessed with my camera but I didn't care. I liked how the world looked through the lens of the camera. Everything seemed different through it. It seemed more detailed and more intricate and it simply fascinated me.

With a sigh of contentment, I slowly made my way towards my house. I still had 1 hour till school started. It was just enough time to go home, change into something more comfortable and grab my book bag. I groaned as I reminded myself to be careful not to run into my mother cause I would get scolded for getting up so early to take pictures. It's not my fault that I wake up really early, plus the dawn is always the most beautiful thing to photograph. 

I glanced at my wrist watch 7:15. 'Damn' I thought 'I gotta hurry' So I picked up the pace and hurried towards my house. My mom was going to murder me. I was almost sure of it. Which only made me hurry up even more.

I could almost see my house down the street and my mom's car wasn't in the driveway. That was good because that meant she had already left for work which would also mean that I was safe. I could almost jump of joy. 

I put my hand on the door handle and opened the door. 'Yep, I'm saved' I thought smugly as I leisurely slipped my camera bag to the floor.

"Where were you, young lady!?" I heard my mom's distinctive voice, almost screech in the distance. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and turned around slowly. My mom had this 'you're in trouble' look on her face, her hands were folded over her chest and her leg was thumping angrily against the marble floor. I put on an almost angelic look on my face and smiled. Hey, if my mom can have looks for every occasion -mostly for when I screw up something- then I can have a look that will save me from everything. The only difference between my mother's and my look was that hers usually worked. Mine? ...Not so much.

"Well, I'm waiting!" My mother urged. Seriously, if she continued to tap her foot I was afraid she would make a hole in the marble. Daddy won't be too happy about it.

"What's wrong mommy?" I crooned hoping that playing dumb would work.

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what's wrong!" Well, it didn't work. "How many times have I told you to stop sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night to take some stupid pictures?!" Ouch, that hurt a bit. And it wasn't night; it was just 5 in the morning.