𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙒𝙖𝙠𝙚

ONE - A Photographer

MAY, 1970

She remembered living in London.

Living in London was different. You would see things only thought to be seen in the city, you'd see things you didn't expect to see at all. She'd been all over, though, despite only being in her early twenties. She loved travel, she'd decided to move from Germany to London for school in April of 1970, a desperate attempt to get away from the war-filled banter. She hated it, and it wasn't safe there. It was never safe there.

Something she loved about London were the shops you would see downtown, or the people you would see roaming around later at night. She loved the restaurants, the cafes, nearly everything about it fascinated her.

There wasn't much to photograph in London. Not many people, anyway. That's what she was always interested in taking pictures of, people. Forget about the scenery, the sunsets, she didn't care about them-- she loved the people.

That being said, she always spent my time roaming around in bars, looking for people she thought were worthy enough of having their photos taken. She would kindly ask them, some would say yes, some would say no, some were far too intoxicated to say either or. This is usually how she met new people, it wasn't very conventional, but it got the job done. Her professor also loved it, he loved the different looks of people, the different looks in their eyes, you could only guess what had gotten them to the place they were in.

One night was different. One night she'd gone with a friend of hers to one of his parties. He was a studying musician, he and his friends had been invited to a big party with a bunch of pre-established record executives. It was a scouting sort of thing, her guess. She didn't pay much attention, but someone caught her eye.

"Who's that in the corner?"

She pointed over to a man in the corner, he had long ratty hair and defined features. He wore a dress on that went down to his ankles, made of a beautiful silk material. She thought to herself that she wouldn't mind having one for herself.

"That? That's David, he's an odd one. Real shy like."

She hummed, nodding, thinking to make sure she had her old disposable camera in her purse. She looked around, no one was talking to her, what was the harm in wandering for a bit? So she did. She went over to David, tapping him on the shoulder. She didn't know what he'd been expecting, he was tense as he turned around, he seemed scared. He looked at her with caution before she had the chance to speak; "Hello."

He looked around, making sure she was the one he was speaking to, "Hello." he said back. She could immediately tell her friend hadn't been exaggerating, he was in fact extremely timid.

She kept a small smile on her face, "I love your dress, it's gorgeous. Do you think I could get a photo of you? I'm a photographer, I like to show my professor photos of interesting people I see, things like that."

Her German accent was so strong, he could barely understand her. He finally nodded in agreement, "Sure."

She smiled with satisfaction, taking a step back, pulling the small camera out of her purse and snapping a photo of the long-haired man. He was fascinated with the camera, he'd never really seen one like what she had, he supposed it must've been real expensive, but he didn't want to ask.

"Thank you, you look gorgeous. Was the dress specially made or did you buy it somewhere?" She asked, not noticing how her comment flustered him.

He stuttered, answering her question, "I-it was specially made." he said, fiddling with the sides of the skirt.

She nodded, interested, "It's beautiful. Thank you again, let me know if you want me to buy you a drink or something."

He shook his head, "No, it's fine. You're welcome."

She smiled one more time before walking away, looking at the picture she'd taken. He really was gorgeous, she would be sure to show it off once she was back on campus the next day. She was proud of her findings, she would be sure to enjoy the rest of her night.

***

A/N

First chapter of When I Wake, I've had this concept in my head for like a year and I'm FINALLY getting to it! Super happy, hoping I have the motivation to finish :))

Thank you for reading, feel free to vote and comment :)))