The Photographer

So this is something I just wrote up last night out of the blue. It's still a little rough and unedited. It is sort of the beginning of a Noir Fiction piece.

They say that a photograph can capture a part of your soul when it is taken. And when you die, this stolen fragment keeps you from letting go of your former life. You're forced to dwell eternally in a kind of Purgatory worse than Hell itself. Yet photographers like us still exist. Pictures have been taken and the world keeps on moving.

Murder is wrong they say. Crime is a sin. I could really go for a brandy right now but that's wrong too. Say hi to your neighbors, hold doors for strangers, give to the poor. Treat others the way you want to be treated. But what if I don't deserve to be treated this way? Why do any of us deserve to be treated with respect or sympathy? We teach our children not to use violence as a means of getting what we want. Then we go perform an air raid on a city full of countless innocent people.
"Why? Why is my skin burning and I am dying as I stand here, an adult." They think. "Why? Why was I not allowed to push that boy over who stole my books on the first day of school and threw them in the mud?"

I look in the mirror and all I see is an empty shell. The shadow of a man. I am there, but not there. Like a memory trapped in time; destined to repeat itself over and over until time ceases to exist. I don't see life or beauty in my pictures the way I did before. Now I see only remnants of what was, and what never will be again. I asked for death. I asked for closure. I asked for peace. But I know it will never come. For my soul is trapped now and the darkness is quickly setting in.

Reviews

[OBWhiteHawk]

This is very well done, very sad and intense. This statement is one I have made myself, countless times:
We teach our children not to use violence as a means of getting what we want. Then we go perform an air raid on a city full of countless innocent people.
Well done, welcome to WC!

[Maire Merc]

Thank you! I appreciate that a lot.