It was early in the morning, and Bro was standing in the hallway that led to their rooms, staring at the wall. This wall had no color or decorations on it, and so he was thinking about what he could do to fix it up.
Porter, who had gotten up not too long ago, noticed Bro staring at the wall and asked him what was up.
"You see this wall, right?" Bro asked. "This wall is emptier than the inside of a Clone's head. We need something to spice it up."
"Why not ask Amelia?" Porter suggested. "You know she's the queen of interior decorating."
"She is?" Bro looked over at the closed door of the girls' room and whispered, "Was that a self-given title?"
"Well, do you have any ideas on how to decorate the wall?" Porter remarked.
"Fair point."
He called Amelia, who had also just gotten up, for her thoughts about the wall. She took a minute to examine the wall and then spoke up.
"There are many things you can do to give this wall some spice. You could start by painting the wall," she stated, "but jokes aside, I think a mural of our fun memories will do nicely. But a simple photograph or a drawing is also a good start."
"A picture..." Bro thought to himself. "That's it! I'll get a picture of the family! Get everyone else and meet me in the front yard!"
He thanked Amelia for the suggestion and ran to the laundry room. As he pulled on a cord from the ceiling, a set of stairs shifted out from above. As he climbed up the stairs into the attic, he saw numerous piles of boxes, all containing various objects. Wandering through the dust and darkness, he found a small, bronze box with a lens resting atop a series of cardboard boxes. Alongside it was a tripod laying next to the boxes.
He took the two items and headed outside, catching sight of everyone else following him.
"All right, everyone," Bro called, "we're going to get a picture for the wall in the hallway. Just go over there and I'll get the picture," he said, pointing over to some bushes near the porch.
One by one, the siblings ambled out to the front yard, save for Zaire, who was carrying Lily. When asked why, Lily explained that Zaire lost a bet and the loser had to carry the winner outside.
"Another bet? I thought we were done with those!" Bro sighed. "At least no one's owing money to anyone."
"Uh, Bro? I thought we were taking a picture. What's with the box and the tripod? What do those things have to do with taking pictures?" Lily asked.
"This, Lily, is called a camera," Bro explained, patting the box. "I know we have cameras on our phones and whatnot, but today, we're going old school. This is how generations before us took pictures."
"Our phones? You're the only one with a phone, Gramps," Lily retorted. "I'm surprised it's a smartphone and not one of those mini clamshell phones!"
He frowned at Lily, but pretended to not hear the rest of that. "Hokay, line up, everyone!" he ordered as he set up the camera, motioning to the wall. As everyone lined up and struck a pose, he prepared the shot and said, "Say cheese!"
"Cheese? Where?" Zaire shouted, looking around and running out of frame.
"Wait, Zaire-" Bro shouted, trying to stop his brother's pursuit for nonexistent cheese.
The other three were still standing by the wall, still holding their poses. "When those two get back, just say anything other than cheese. I think it's for the best," Amelia whispered to the other two.
A few minutes later, the three noticed Bro pushing a whining Zaire back into the camera's sight. Zaire, despite being disappointed, struck a pose while Bro continued to prepare the camera.
"Alright, say anything other than cheese!" Bro said.
"Popcorn!" Lily shouted.
"Ice cream!" Porter replied.
"Hamburger!" Amelia responded.
"Cheddar…" Zaire muttered, dejection apparent on his face.
Bro tried to take a picture, but looked confused for a minute before realizing something was off with the camera.
"Yeah, this is a toy camera. I'll be right back," he chuckled awkwardly, running straight back into the house.
Five minutes later, he returned with a gray camera in his hands.
"There, I think this is the real camera," Bro stated, placing the camera on the tripod.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get our picture taken together! I know you don't want to spend the whole day trying to get this picture taken!" Lily cheered.
Bro turned on the camera, took off the lens, and pointed it at the other siblings.
"A-HEM," Lily frowned.
"Hmm?" Bro grunted and looked at Lily with an eyebrow raised.
"I said, let's get our picture taken together," Lily repeated, tapping her foot.
Bro took a moment to think about what Lily meant and assumed that he should be in the picture as well. After a minute of deciding, he moved into the frame and struck a pose like the others.
Everyone smiled, except for Bro, who smirked at the camera. A minute had passed until Amelia spoke up saying, "Hey, did you make sure the camera isn't on video mode?"
"Actually..." Bro thought about it for a minute as he wasn't paying attention to its settings. He walked up to the camera to check, and...
*CLICK.*
The camera took a picture of Bro in front of the camera, blocking everyone else.
"Well, at least we know now," Zaire chuckled.
"At least we know it actually works," Porter added in a chuckle.
"Let's try this again," Bro sighed.
He adjusted the camera again, pressed the button and ran back to the others.
*CLICK.*
The camera caught a picture of him trying to run back into frame, only leaving his hand and the front of his shoe visible.
"You're nailing it, big brother!" Lily joked.
"Shut it, flower girl," Bro muttered. "I'm trying my best."
"Bro, why don't you take a picture of us and see what happens?" Amelia requested.
"I bet it'll come out as normal as fresh laundry," Bro answered.
Bro adjusted the camera and snapped a picture of his family with no issue at all.
"That's odd," he murmured. "I'm trying again now."
He put a timer on the camera and got back to the others in time. The camera flashed the five and printed out a photo.
*CLICK.*
"Looks like we won't be here all day," Zaire sighed as Bro and Amelia walked over to take a look at the photo. It looked pretty normal, but Amelia was unhappy with how deadpan her brother was in the picture.
"Bro, you could stand to smile more," Amelia stated.
"I don't know," Bro replied. "You know how much I hate smiling."
"Come on, Bro! Take another picture and smile! It's just for a few seconds!" Lily cheered.
"Well… alright…"
As Bro shifted his face to form a smile, the sound of cracking and popping could be heard. Before anyone could process the noises, an uncanny, toothy grin was plastered on Bro's face.
"Ew! What's that noise?" Lily squeaked. "What's wrong with your mouth?!"
"Let's just say I haven't smiled in a while," Bro replied, setting the timer on the camera before walking back to the crew. While uncomfortable, they posed for the camera until the photo was taken.
*CLICK.*
The four quickly moved away from Bro while Porter went over to see the photo. Upon seeing it, he screamed and dropped it.
The photo would look normal if it wasn't for Bro's eerie smile. That, coupled with the red eyes he had in the picture made it strangely unsettling.
"Oh boy, red eyes," Bro stated. "Forgot those types of cameras did that."
"Oh, yeah! I remember cameras back then did that!" Amelia added.
"You look like you're about to do something heinous!" Lily complained, looking at the photo.
"This is probably the closest we're going to get in regards to a good picture where everyone smiles," Bro stated. "Why don't we get this processed?"
"No," Porter disagreed. "I don't like it."
"I'd rather not see that image every time I walk out of my room," Lily added.
"Not to say that picture is creepy, but... it's just creepy," Zaire agreed.
"Fine," Bro sighed, shifting his face back to normal. "We'll try again."
He set up the timer and joined his group again. All gave smiles, except for Bro, who only gave something that looked like a smile.
*CLICK.*
As Bro went to retrieve the picture, Lily stopped him, saying, "I think I blinked. Can we do that again?"
"Oh, for the love of..." Bro muttered to himself, covering his face with his hands.
He set up the timer… again... and got back with the rest of the group.
*CLICK.*
This time when Bro went to retrieve the photo, Porter announced, "I'm pretty sure I blinked."
"I take back what I said about us being here all day," Zaire groaned as Bro set the timer…
Again.
As he hurried back with the others, a leaf flew straight into Amelia's face at the very last second.
*CLICK.*
"Where did that leaf come from?" Lily asked. "There aren't any trees nearby."
Bro closed his eyes and walked to the camera to try again. As the camera was about to take the picture, Amelia sneezed.
*CLICK.*
"Whew! 'Scuse me," she giggled.
Bro said nothing as he walked towards the camera and readied it… again.
Hours Later
The next few hours were filled with bad photos consisting of yawns, neighbors photobombing the camera, and everyone collapsing from standing for so long.
"This is grating," Porter muttered with an angry frown.
"My legs hurt!" Lily moaned.
"My face hurts from all the smiling," Zaire added.
"Look, I don't want to be here any longer than you do, ok?" Bro responded. "Let's just get a good picture and move on with our lives."
"I want to go home!" Lily pouted.
The siblings all looked at her.
"Oh, right. Sorry," she chuckled.
As Bro set the timer again and went to the others for another shot, several Clones ran up and stole the camera.
"HEY!" Bro shouted, running after them.
As Bro chased the group, Zaire walked over to the pile of photos. They were all bad shots, from the creepy picture, from the leaf in Amelia's face, to one where Bro looked like he was ready to cry.
"Yeah, these are all pretty bad," he sighed. "Still, that wall has literally nothing on it, so I could see why he wants to decorate it so badly."
"Why not just paint it?" Lily asked.
"It doesn't matter what color we used, it wouldn't fit in with the rest of the house," he replied. "Believe me, I've spent too much time thinking of a color that would work well."
By this point, Bro finally returned with the camera and a black eye.
"Good goodness, Bro!" Lily exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Bro said, trudging toward the tripod. "Nothing more than a couple of scratches," he added, setting up the camera.
As he set the timer and got in frame with his brothers and sisters, again… dark clouds began forming in the sky. The scent of rain filled Zaire's nose.
"It's going to rain soon. We need to hurry!" he warned.
"The picture should've been taken by now!" Bro complained, lowering an eyebrow and putting a hand to his chin.
"Why did you put the timer on for so long?!" Porter yelled.
Raindrops started to fall and the storm had begun to settle in. As Bro rushed over to the camera to inspect it, he realized it was out of film.
Amelia and Zaire started to panic, as they spent a while on their hair after they had gotten up, and they didn't want their work to go to waste.
Nine seconds later, it started pouring, drenching everything that was outside.
The siblings were all yelling, but no one could hear them due to how hard the rain was pouring. As Amelia, Lily, Porter and Zaire fled back into the house, Bro grabbed the camera and quickly followed after.
10 Minutes Later
The four were wearing pajamas. Bro, who managed to stay dry through all of it somehow, kept what he was wearing. Amelia and Zaire walked out of the laundry room with towels wrapped around their heads.
"Alright, let's try this again," Bro muttered as he took the camera out of a canister filled with rice. "I gave the camera more film. Everyone, get in position."
Everyone else groaned.
Zaire, who had enough at this point, ditched the towel and jumped straight out of the nearest window, screaming.
"Can't you just give it a rest?" Lily said.
"I don't want to discourage you from getting this picture taken, but we need a break for our legs," Amelia reasoned.
"But... the wall! Don't you want something to decorate it?" Bro asked calmly.
"Not at the cost of our sanity!" Porter shouted.
The four engaged in a few minutes of arguing until they reluctantly agreed, despite their legs aching. Bro gave a thankful sigh and added, "If this fails one more time, I won't take up any more of your time."
Porter walked up to the window and shouted, "Hey, Zaire, come back! We're trying one last time!"
Zaire shouted something back, but it was hard to hear because of the rain. With hesitation, he jumped back into the house through the same window.
They all grouped up one more time and posed for the camera, exhausted but smiling. There were no distractions, no possible disruptions, nothing could stop them from finally getting the picture.
Well, except for the battery dying. The green light signifying the camera battery had finally shut off.
Bro started to laugh, his laughter slowly growing louder until he was full on cackling. As tears formed in his eyes, he walked into the boys' room and slammed the door.
Lily, Porter and Zaire looked at each other while Amelia knocked on the door.
"Bro...? Are you okay...?"
The door wasn't locked, so the four walked in and turned on the light.
Bro was sitting in a corner, quietly sobbing to himself. Porter and Amelia slowly approached him.
"Don't act so sneaky," Bro sniffled. "You knocked on the door, so I bet you want to talk."
He then got up and turned to face them, preparing to speak.
"I'm so sorry. I wasted your time. I wasted everyone's time and energy for a photo that didn't even happen. I don't deserve to be forgiven…"
He looked away from the others and continued. "Not by you, at least."
Everyone looked at each other, confused.
"What?" Zaire questioned. "Dude, it's just a picture, not an assault charge! You don't need to get into all that!"
"Bro, it's fine. We just wanted a break from all that standing," Amelia responded.
"Yeah! Just ten minutes would've been fine," Lily added.
"Wait, you're not mad at me?" Bro asked, trying to dry his tears.
"Oh, we're mad, but not as much as you think we are," Zaire smiled, slapping Bro's back.
"Believe it or not, we wanted this picture taken as much as you did," Porter pointed out. "That's why we stuck around as long as we did."
Amelia gave Bro a hug and said, "We forgive you. Not just because we want to, despite the pain and tiredness we feel right now, but because we're family, and family forgives."
The other siblings also joined Amelia in the group hug.
"Thanks, guys," Bro replied. "I don't think I deserve it, but I appreciate the thought nonetheless."
As Bro wrapped his arms around the others in a hug, Porter spotted scissors and a pile of their failed photos on the floor.
"Hey, what's that?" he asked.
"That, dear brother, is going to be our replacement," Bro explained. "We've taken a lot of pictures today, and it would be a waste to not use them, so I'm making a collage out of the close-to-best shots. It's a long shot, but I think I can get it done before tomorrow morning."
"We'll be waiting," Amelia said. "C'mon, sis, we need to get to bed."
The two waved goodbye to the boys as they walked to their room. Bro waved to Zaire and Porter as he took the scissors and photos and headed towards the kitchen.
As for the other two, they hopped in their beds and turned off the light.
The Next Day
Bro was standing in front of the same wall as before, hanging up a framed collage of all the pictures he took yesterday. The others also admired it with him.
"Did you get it done?" Porter asked.
"Yep," Bro nodded. "Behold!"
"It looks nice. I think you got my good side," Lily said.
"Although you used mostly bad photos, I think you got all our good sides," Zaire chuckled. "That one picture of you smiling isn't in there, is it?" he asked.
"Don't worry, I burned it after the rain stopped," Bro replied.
Seal flopped out of the boys' bedroom to see what everyone was chattering about. Upon seeing the picture, he nodded at Bro and hopped to the kitchen.
"Thanks again, you guys," Bro said, wrapping his arms around everyone in a group hug. "Sorry again for the trouble yesterday."
"Hey, don't hold it over your head, 'kay?" Lily joked.
"Yeah, remember what I said yesterday!" Amelia added.
"I know, I know, family forgives," Bro answered.
"Right, and no matter what happens, we'll always be family."