I was walking down the normal street in a normal day. Smelling the fresh baked goods from Mr. Brown's bakery and the fresh flowers from Ms. Pepper's shop. Seemingly naive of what was happening as I, a 13-year-old, enjoy my walk. I was instructed by the mother to buy fresh fruits to eat, it has become a daily job of mine. If not fruits, I would be told to buy bread, eggs, or a radish depending on our food for the day.
I reached the same old cart of Mr. Burne.
"Good morning young lady, what are you thinking of buying for today?"
"Good morning sir, I was thinking of buying some of your persimmons," I said.
I started picking out and fresh ones by smelling them. They usually smell sweet and are fragrant. A sudden click was heard which in turn made my head swing towards the direction of the sound. It was soon followed by a flash. My eyes have landed on a device I have yet to see. It was a rectangle with a circular in the middle. It was being held by a dark-haired young boy a couple of centimeters shorter than me.
"I'm sorry for startling you, miss. I was capturing a photo of citizens here in Avondale." I wasn't able to reply to him immediately. Maybe because of the sudden flash? After a couple of seconds, the boy seemed startled and worried that he might have offended me somehow.
"I could show the photograph if you want me to! It only needs time to develop." He said.
"A photograph?" I asked. His face lit up, his eyes squinted together with the appearance of dimples resting on his cheeks. His white teeth showed by a grin.
"You haven't heard of photographs before?" He asked, seemingly expectant of my reaction earlier.
"I haven't quite heard of one dear sir." I honestly stated. I have not seen anything near to what the boy was holding. He lifted his hand holding the said device.
"This is called a hand-held kodak camera, it was introduced by Eastman in 1888. It captures what it sees in front of the lense." I was bewildered by what he said. He must be from the city, to develop this kind of tool!
"You could do that?" I asked. "To capture a moment with a click! This is an advancement." I was flabbergasted by how was used. I would like to ask him about it more but...
"Oh! I just remembered that I had to do something, sir." I quickly paid Mr. Burne and ran. I wouldn't want to get my mother mad.
"I'll tell you tomorrow then!" I looked back and waved at the young boy who was shouting. I immediately returned home to prepare the fruit for mother. The encounter earlier made me curious about the young boy. I was sure he came from the city because I haven't seen anyone in this town with those clothes. He looked like a rich boy, but what would a rich boy do in our town? I kept on wondering about this "camera" he was talking about. So the big circular thing in the middle was called a lense. I haven't read anything about that, no books in Mr. Parker's library are about boxes that capture moments. I kept on pondering about how it must have worked but I slowly fell into a deep sleep.
"Go fetch some eggs for me please honey." My mother has instructed me to get some eggs from our chicken coup. It was located far down the street near the opening of the forest. I was fetching fresh eggs when I heard a rustle behind the trees. And me, being me, got curious instead of afraid. I peaked behind the tree and what welcomed me was the dark-haired-boy. What was he doing ducking behind the trees? He seemed to notice that I was in front of him.
"Oh! Good morning!" He said with a bright smile. I would say that the sun himself would shy away with his appearance. He stood up from his position and walked near me.
"I was taking photographs of the small mushrooms." I was snapped out of my trance when he finished speaking.
"Oh, I-I was gathering fresh eggs," I said as I lift the basket filled with it."I'll get going then." I said and walked away. After I took a couple of steps he shouted.
"Wait!" He caught up to me and started walking with me.
"About the photographs, I brought some with me today." He started and reached for a pocket inside his vest. He then gave me a piece of paper, It wasn't just any piece of paper, It was sturdy and had a polished finish to it.
"Wow..." I said in fascination as I looked at the object in front of me. It was flying objects. It looked like balloons but larger and it had people inside it.
"Those are called hot air balloons, They are flying machines that are powered by fire." My eyes went round as a plate after what he had said.
"Fire? but how?"
"The air inside the balloon is heated, warmer air is less dense than cold air, so it becomes lighter than the cooler air on the outside." Woah...
"They can fly?" I asked
"Oh, have you not heard of planes?" He asked as if he was seeing some kind of odd trick.
"You mean here? The plains?" I asked as I pointed out our surroundings. How can farmlands Have any connection to flying whatsoever?
"Bwahahaha No! P-L-A-N-E-S." He spelled out as he started laughing, it's as if he was watching a clown.
"It's a machine that can make you fly!" He continued.
"Fly!? You can fly?" He nodded at what I said. I was in disbelief, How can I not know of such things. I was sure I have read everything in the library. I've heard of all the machinery I could think of, but flying machines?
"I haven't read of anything that said such about flying objects," I said in bewilderment.
"Oh, you have yet to see the world sunshine!" He said. "There are pictures that can move called motion pictures that were invented in 1892. There are also devices that can be used to talk to someone from far away." We continued our conversation which so much interest and wonder as he took photographs here and there. I was so indulged in our conversation that I kept on talking and talking until afternoon, I completely forgot about the eggs! I didn't even notice that we have arrived at our house.
"Oh, I'm very sorry! I didn't even notice the time." I apologized to him. This was a very embarrassing thing to do, for a girl to bring a boy home!
"It only means that we've enjoyed each other's company." He said with a smile.
"See you tomorrow then?" I asked. I would really love for him to tell me more about where he grew up from. The things that were beyond my imagination that actually exists.
"I'm very much afraid that I cannot see you starting tomorrow." He lowered his gaze and wore a sorry expression.
"Well...why is that?" I felt sad, I have only known him for two days, and for him to suddenly disappear.
"I'm going back...my father has finished his business here." He said
"Will we ever see each other again?" I asked. Even though I've only met him yesterday, I felt so attached to him. It's as if we were long lost friends that have known each other for so long.
"I will write to you!" He said optimistically.
"You will?" I do hope that he does. I don't want to lose a newfound friend so easily.
"I promise!" He said. We sadly said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I hope I get to see him once more. I once again had a hard time sleeping as I kept on thinking about planes, hot air balloons, telephones, and telegraphs...I can't stop thinking of him...
Days went on and I haven't received anything from him. I started thinking that maybe he as forgotten he, It's only two days worth of conversation that we had, It's impossible for him to hold it near his heart as I would. Until I received a letter. It was a photo...a photo of me. It was our first meeting. When I was picking put persimmons, the moment when I heard a click and stared at the so-called camera he was holding. My mouth was slightly ajar, as my eyes were wide holding the expression of shock. I flipped the picture and read the words written on it.
"Sunshine"
this photograph...
though was not able to capture
neither your golden locks,
your luminous bright face
nor the rouge color of your lips
I hope that it makes your day
-Percy
It made me feel weird, it's as if animals were going deranged inside the pit of my stomach. He's weird...to make me hear, see, and imagine things just from his mere words. It's as if he's from another world completely out of my imagination, somewhere I can only dream of. A boy that can capture anyone's attention and interest, A boy who captured moments and made memories out of it.