Gerald's hands were shaking - unusual. The film he held, undeveloped, was certain to put a target on his back.
"This Film. I would like to know where you got it from. You know how old I am. Sometimes an old man's hand's shake. It didn't come out right when I first tried to develop it."
I told him where I found it.
He looked at me in my own eyes, admiringly.
"I love your attitude, young man. For you, a film could be anything. It could be a great motion picture, or a greasy coating of dust across your old aunt's windowsill. But that isn't what this film is."
"This film is something that was put into a camera. A sort of membrane meant to catch the light, if only for a moment in time. You have to tell me, what moment is this that you needed to capture?"
I told Gerald that I hadn't captured anything on the roll of film I wanted him to develop.
I just found it nearby, next to the porch of an abandoned house covered with old children's toys.
Gerald began to shake more.
"This is why is couldn't be developed..."
He began to cry.
"It was so black in my dark-room, and it didn't develop."
"It didn't develop because you didn't capture the moment"
"And now, the Moment is here to Capture Us"
(post is archived)