Camera

Today I got a used camera, one of the old ones that print out the Polaroid. I got it from the nice old man next door to my apartment. I set it on the table and pressed the power button. It flickered on for a moment, then turned back off. I thought nothing of it and plugged it into the charger.

A few hours later, I came back to the camera. I unplugged it from the outlet. Eager to try it out, I laid it on the table and set a timer for it to go off. A flash of yellow. The pitch black image slid onto the table. The picture developed. The image was slightly grainy, but otherwise okay. There was something odd about it, though. The right side appeared pale and out of focus, like a silent movie. Old cameras have odd problems, I guess. I wiped the lens with a cloth.

The next morning I went to my aunt's party, on a grassy clearing next to an orange grove. The kids were running around and the parents were chatting and drinking wine. I sat alone at a picnic bench. A little girl with blonde hair ran up and sat down next to me.

"What ya got there?" she asked.

"It's a really old camera that I got from my neighbor."

"What's that slot for?"

"It's where the picture comes out."

"Cool!" she smiled, "Can you take a picture of me with it?"

"Sure thing!"

I got up and pressed the button. The black image spit out.

"Why doesn't it show me?" she turned her head in confusion.

"It has to develop first."

"Oh, weird!"

A minute passed and the picture faded in. The image came out grainy, but now it looked like the pale area got smaller.

"Whoa, my face looks weird in that picture!"

"Yeah, this thing is pretty old."

"No, I mean it looks gray or something!"

I took a closer look and saw what she meant. There was a little grayish blotch right over her face.

"Maybe it's haunted!"

My heart dropped. I just stared at the picture.

"Mister. Hey mister?"

I stared. The girl gave up getting my attention and walked away. There's no way this thing could be haunted. I'm sure the old man would have noticed before he gave it to me. I shrugged it off and wiped the lens to get off a bit of dust.

The next morning, I had toast and jam for breakfast. I decided to test the camera again by taking a photo of the jar. I set the image on the table and waited. I picked it up a minute later. The pale blotch on the image was more prominent this time.

It was an arm gripping the jar.

"This can't be..."

I stood up.

"This can't be..."

I backed up.

"This can't be!"

I tripped. I fell backward. I didn't feel my body hit the pavement. No, I passed out before that.

—

Autopsy report: Roger Wakeford, age 37, Male

The victim was said to have backed off the fire escape of his 4th story apartment. Before falling, he dropped a Polaroid "Instamatic" camera with a faint smudge of silver oil paint on the lens. Witnesses said they heard the victim yell the phrase "This can't be" before they heard a loud crunch outside. Nobody said they saw him fall. It is not certain what occurred that caused him to back off the ledge.

There was a picture on the dining room table of a jar, with the smudge almost in the shape of an appendage.

---

Credited to Komilatte

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