Monday, October 15, 2007

Passerby


"How did it turn out?" A voice cut through the cold night, making my bent knees try to jump, holding back in fear of nudging the supports keeping the camera in place. I took one last glance through the view finder, two clicks to darken the exposure, set the timer and release the shutter.

"We'll find out in a moment." I grunted as I straightened my knees and took my first glance at the passerby. As the camera flashed and clicked into motion, I stood in silence, glaring at a pale face, reflecting the florescent lights which lighted the underpass, mildly grinning at either my remark, or perhaps the grunting involved, gratis, with my attempt to set my knees straight. It was beginning to be awkward, but soon the two second exposure elapsed and with another click, the camera closed its eye. Her brow raised, diverting her glance at the miniature display at the rear of the camera. "Let's take a look."

My body couldn't help from shaking nervously so I rubbed my hands together with vigor, as to suggest that I'm cold. In reality, it felt suddenly warm and my face was probably slightly flushed. I stalled for a moment, slowly unlatching the camera from the tripod, taking a deep breath while raising it to eye level. "Not too bad." she whispered again. I grunted in agreement, but honestly I couldn't make out the image. All I saw was her face at the back of my mind, dressed in black eyeshadow and a dark red shade on her lips. Her hair was held back by a carefully folded handkerchief, escaping in curls from the back. "Can I see what else you have on there?" I answered in a quick "yep" and handed over my apparatus.

I watched her lean against the nearby wall, and slide unto the floor. In the mean time, I reached into my pocket and withdrew a tin and lighter. With a cigarette between my lips, my thumb flicked a flame into existence. Two puffs and I met her confused stare. "How do I work this?" I chuckled, reaching for the camera extended in my direction, while handing the tin to her reaching small hand. Soon I was sitting next to her, on the cold concrete floor, with my feet planted firmly as to match hers. She pushed on the edge of the camera, cuing me to tilt the screen her way, then reached over to steal the lighter, still in my grasp.

"Vanilla, eh?" I was told it was the scent that men respond to the best, next to cheese. She must have known, but fortunately chose the Vanilla. Her smile echoed as she laughed under her breath, leaning in a bit closer.

"It's cold, right?"

We sat there, glancing through the various photographs that I had yet to transfer off the camera. Some better then others, but she seemed interested non-the-less, sharing stories of which she was reminded of through out the slide show, as the light above us flickered on and off.
"So, do you make a hobby of bugging random folks taking pictures in empty underpasses?"

"From time to time, have to keep life spontaneous somehow right?"

"Of course," I agreed, noticing her look down at her phone for the time. It was closing in on four in the morning, late enough to stir her to her feet. "Need a ride somewhere?" She declined, pointing that she's not to far past the opposite end of the corridor. She shook my hand and made her way down. Delaying a moment longer, I slowly compressed the tripod, looking up to catch her blindly waving goodbye.

Her name was Gail.

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