CITY ISLAND LINES
She squinted through the view-finder and wrinkled her nose in irritation. Some clueless goon kept botching up her otherwise glorious panorama of sun, sea, and sky. For her, a camera focused the world in a way that allowed her to appreciate its beauty while keeping a safe distance.
For as long as she could remember, people had wanted to put her in front of the camera. She was not conventionally pretty but instead disconcertingly beautiful, her striking features somehow woven harmoniously together to create a captivating face. However, she detested this attention, hated being valued merely for her appearance. So she turned the camera around and lodged herself firmly behind the lens, where she felt safe and unobserved. Today, she was trying to capture an image of the sinking sun soaking the seaside scene in lustrous platinum splashes. The reflections off the tide pools contrasted perfectly with the velvety stone surfaces to project alternating facets of light and dark. But, for some reason, this annoying man continued to crouch over the smallest pool, right in the centre of her frame. No matter how she angled herself or her lens, he remained firmly rooted within the scene, confounding her attempts to capture the moment’s magic. Trying to suppress her frustration and remain calm and diplomatic, she strode purposefully toward the man, asking if he would mind stepping slightly to the right so that she could take her picture. As she drew closer, she saw that the man, wearing the thickest glasses she had ever seen, was joyously peering at crabs and starfish in the small shallow pool. He raised his gaze and started to apologise. His seafoam green eyes halted her mid-stride. He had an inner radiance and beamed at her as he explained that, due to a progressive condition, his eyesight waned daily but that he took great pleasure in observing these tiny creatures whose impressive hardiness enabled them to survive a life of extremes, not unlike himself. She struggled to politely explain the image she was trying to catch, with the dwindling sunlight reflecting off the rocks and pool surfaces. He delighted in her description and thanked her for sharing her vision, since he was not sure how much longer he would have his. Then he enthusiastically, but inaccurately extended his hand to shake hers. ’Of course, ‘she thought, ‘he can’t really see me.’ Suddenly, a small boy materialized behind her, smiled sheepishly and took the man gently by the elbow, guiding him back up the beach. She drove home slowly, without having taken her photo. Over dinner, she ruminated on how to convey her vision and images to the man using syllables rather than pixels. This occupied her thoughts until she sank into a deep dreamless sleep. She awoke suddenly with a solution. Excited she drove back to the tide pools eager to meet the man and share her revelation. He was not there. She returned the next day, and the next, and the next, but she never saw him again. 24 April 2018
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