Camera Flashes

“So how do you think it works?” the teen boy asked his friends. Of course the one time Jonah decided to actually go on of the group's random hikes weird shit happens. It wasn’t going to be a tough hike, just a nice forested walk to the mountains and then a gentle incline to a cool cave. Jonah assumed because it was going to be easy it would be like when they hung out at the mall: just walking and talking.

Not this time.

Of course when the group of four reached the top of one of the small inclines near the cave there was a creepy free floating camera in the dead center of the rocky path. The old Polaroid seemed to be free of strings and a pedestal as it hung suspended five feet off the ground. The teens had been frozen in shock and no one murmured a sound for a few minutes when they had first come upon the scene. Now, however, the boys and girl fidgeted after Jonah broke the awkward and mostly freaked out silence.

“Go touch it Eric,” Marie, a small blonde girl, said pointedly at her boyfriend.

Jonah glanced over at the young couple knowing all too well how Eric would do absolutely anything for Marie. He watched as Eric looked frighteningly between Marie, the camera and Jonah and Mike. Jonah shook his head in warning but Eric made a face and seemed to be determined to touch the gravity defying object so he stepped forward. The tall glasses wearing, soccer playing, actual dumb jock Eric walked determinedly up to the floating Polaroid. As he reached the camera the entire group shifted a good two feet away. Jonah looked to his right at his best friend Mike. The look Mike gave Jonah can only be described as complete and utter disbelief at how dumb Eric could actually be. Eric, however, poked at the camera and it just spun in place as if an invisible pole ran through it keeping it in its place.

“Babe look through it like you were gonna take a picture,” Marie commanded smirking and popping her gum. The cheerleader took a small step forward after seeing the camera was not going to blow up. Eric grabbed the camera and tugged at it to bring it to his face but the camera didn’t budge. He bent down the couple inches and held the camera as if he were to take a picture. He slowly brought his face to the camera and peered through the small glass. Jonah leaned slightly toward Mike, wary of what was about to happen.

Suddenly Eric screamed and pushed away at the camera causing him to fall back on his butt and onto the dirt path. The camera only spun in place while Jonah’s hand immediately found Mike’s and Marie ran over to her boyfriend who now sat scared and hyperventilating on the floor. Mike side way glanced down at Jonah to see if he was alright and Jonah nodded slowly relaxing his now tense shoulders and letting go of Mike’s warm hand. As the younger boys walked the few feet to Eric, Marie began rubbing circles into his back trying to calm him down.The group of teens were a bit shaken up by the scream of bloody murder that had come from Eric but seeing him in distress put all of them in mother hen mode.

“What did you see baby?” She asked her soprano voice came out softly as she looked concerningly down at him. Eric continued to breathe harshly as Jonah and Mike knelt down next to him. Mike place a hand on Eric’s shoulder in hopes to help calm him but his breathing was still as if he had just ran two miles. The jock took in deep breaths and looked between his friends and the camera a few times before finally looking down at his hands.

“I.. I think. I think I saw myself die.”