Picture Imperfect

Thick fog blanketed parts of the city that day. The day Elly's life would change in ways she could never imagine, despite her creative imagination. Her hyper, over-active one she fostered through art. Painting, drawing, and more recently, photographing every little and large moment one could capture on camera.

She first got into photography thanks in part to her mother. Elly stumbled across an old photo album while helping her dad clean out the basement. They were a bit short on cash, so they were looking into selling some stuff they didn't need anymore at a garage sale. If not, they could always donate the findings to the less fortunate. But she had big dreams for the basement. Her own vision. Elly wanted to clear out everything, renovate the space, and rent it out to a couple or even a family. Maybe a young couple also short on cash or a new family with a kid. Unfortunately, the Clarkson family was in no position to redo an entire basement.

The album entranced Elly for ages. Her mom had to come down and tug at Elly's arm to get her attention. Food was cooked, waiting on the table.

Elly spent the evening flipping through the photos over and over again.

That's when her life started to change. At the time, it changed for the better.

One day not long after, she met a boy in her photography class at the local community college. Interestingly enough, he initially took more interest in her than she did for him.

They took turns posing as models for each other's work. Elly's portfolio had many pictures of him in it. Likewise held true too. He got rid of the other photos he took prior to meeting her, storing them away somewhere as an archive. He replaced old photos with new ones, pictures of her. Elly's pale hands. Her long legs. A shot of her face from the side with the sun in the background.

They spent a lot of time together. More and more time in fact.

It got to a point where Elly saw less of her mom and more of him. They weren't officially dating. At least, that's what Elly told herself. He never made a formal proclamation to be her boyfriend. And she was okay with that. For a while.

Every occasion the two went out somewhere, they both brought a camera along.

Until one day he didn't.

They were at the movie theater. Not exactly the perfect place to take good photos and silly selfies, but bad circumstances never stopped them before. She purchased the tickets, got the popcorn, and ambled over to him. Elly noticed something that made her pause right away.

"Where's your camera?"

"I left it at home," he mumbled.

Elly didn't think too much of this at the time. After all, he was human. People forget stuff every now and then. She didn't press him about it. They used her camera instead. She took all the pictures that day. Pictures of him mostly.

By this point, she was still using her mom's old camera. When Elly found some free time, she organized all the photos she took in her room, scattering the pictures on her bed. But Elly had been saving up. She landed a part-time job at the local grocery store. It wasn't exactly her dream job, but the manager paid her slightly above minimum wage. If she saved up for the next several months, Elly would have enough for a decent camera. She aimed to get one before the end of the year. Before his birthday. It would be a nice gift for both of them. Not just her. He didn't exactly have a good quality camera either. His father died in a motor vehicle accident several years ago. Since then, his mom had to work two jobs in order to take care of three kids—him and his two older brothers.

Turns out she would never get a chance to surprise him with the new camera.

Elly worked her tail off and eventually purchased one. But in the end all the camera did was collect dust in the corner of her room.

She spotted him at their garage sale. The family finally managed to clear out the basement. The weather was surprisingly warm despite it being near the end of the year. The clouds made way for the sun in the sky. Its rays beat down on the pavement.

"Hey!"

He turned, ever so slowly.

She jogged over to him with a grin on her face. "I was thinking—"

"Elly, I have to go."

"But you just got here."

"I'm leaving for good."

"Where's your camera?" She didn't know why this question popped into her mind or how it even spilled out of her mouth. But it bothered her too much to see him without one.

He didn't meet her eyes. "I'm not interested anymore."

With that, he walked away without another word.

Elly didn't know what exactly he was referring to. Was he not interested in her? In photography? In something else entirely?

She never got an explanation. She didn't even get a goodbye.

No matter what she did, he didn't reply. She called him first on his cell phone and then at home. She got voicemail both times. Then she decided to send him an email. Nothing. By then she hadn't expected a reply.

Elly refused to look at the pictures of him and her together. Some days she had the greatest urge to delete every photo on her camera, even the ones he wasn't in. But she couldn't bring herself to do anything.

After the garage sale ended, Elly ran to her room and stared at the new digital camera on her dresser well into dark hours of the night. She wouldn't get rid of it, not after working half a year just to buy it. But Elly didn't feel like using it either.

She gave the camera to her mom instead.