Photos of People

Sammie stared at her photo for a minute before folding it and placing it back in his pocket. Underneath the bandage still wrapped around his head, a dull throb emitted reminding him of the woman's fate. Sammie shook his head and went back to his camera.

"At least I didn't have you at the time," he whispered with the hope that no one in the park would hear him. Runners, bikers, couples, and families with strollers walked on the main paved trail behind him. His eyes were turned away from them, as he crouched on the grass next to the stream.

Some turtles were sunbathing on a rock in the middle of the water, and Sammie moved his body to try and see them better. He put his camera on the ground, put it above his his, held it out with his arms straight, held it to the left and right, and even got on his stomach to get a picture from a low angle.

While on his stomach, he rolled over onto his back and started clicking his camera at the clouds and tree line above him. Various feet passed by him as he took these photos, but Sammie refused to look over at them even once. A small smile crossed his face as he took photos of the clouds movements only to be interrupted by the chime of his phone.

"Ashley..." He reached behind him to pull the phone out of his back pocket. The message from her was at the very top of the notifications.

"Brandon and I are almost done making dinner! Where are you?"

"Out. Do I need to come back?"

"Yes! I didn't talk Brandon into letting you stay with us so you could starve! If you're at the park again, I expect you home in 10 minutes."

Sammie let out a moan as he finally sat up. The throb under the bandage came back as he stood and walked down the path. He kept his face forward, ignoring the remaining people that passed. The throb increased and decreased with every step which Sammie slowly came to tolerate as he headed toward the parking lot.

His rental car was the closest to the trail as he got inside quickly. He pulled out his phone again to see how much time left he had before it had to be returned.

"Two weeks..." He sighed and took the camera off his neck. He flipped through the photos of the turtles, checking the lighting, shadows, and angles. He decided that a photo where the turtles faces were clear and taken at a lower angle to make it look like they were looking down at the camera was his favorite.

The throb was gone as he went through the photos about two more times. When he finally shut the camera off and turned on the car, the throb returned. It didn't go away until he reached Ashley and Brandon's apartment a few blocks away.

"You're late!" Ashley chimed from the doorway. Their apartment was in a regular home. The entire bottom floor was rented just by Ashley and Brandon while someone else lived upstairs. It gave Ashley easier access to stand on the porch outside with her hands on her hips as she watched Sammie pull into the driveway.

Sammie ignored her comment as he hoisted himself from the car. He stared at Ashley with a blank expression while she stared back with an annoyed one.

"I'm not letting my older brother go hungry," she said stepping to the side to let him up the stairs. They both headed inside where plates were set out on the small table in the kitchen to the left. Brandon came out of a room at the end of the short hallway in the back.

"You're finally back man," he commented, walking over to the table.

"Yeah," was Sammie's curt reply.

"What? You don't like me suddenly?"

"He likes you fine. It's just..." Ashley added.

"You wanted me to eat, I'm here to eat. Are we going to do that?"

Ashley and Brandon just looked at each other as Sammie slumped in the chair. "I want to get some sleep so my head will stop hurting for once."

"That car accident was a few weeks ago now," Ashley said grabbing the bowl of pasta from the counter. "Your head shouldn't have been hurting for this long. I don't even think you need that bandage. I can take you back to the doctor before we leave tomorrow."

"No. It's not necessary."

"Little overdramatic, I see?" Brandon muttered.

"What?"

"Brandon." Ashley shot him a look. "Not now."

Brandon nodded and scooped out some pasta for himself.

"Sammie," Ashley started as Sammie got passed the spoon. "I know losing Jen to the crash was hard..."

"She wanted to come with me to that interview," Sammie interrupted, a little bit of annoyance and anger slipped through his voice. "Because of that jerk, she's gone, I got hurt, I missed that interview, and I couldn't even afford my own place."

"Will you stop this?" Ashley raised her voice. "I...we," she gestured to Brandon, "...are at least trying to help you. I hate seeing you like this, and I want you to get your life back together."

"I know," Sammie replied. "I can't even bring myself to take the pictures she liked. But, I've gotten a lot of nice pictures of other things since then."

"I'm sure there's plenty of photography jobs. It's at least a start."

"I'd have to take photos of people though."

"Well...I'll look around if there's anything else."

"You can't do it this weekend though," Brandon interrupted. "We have the con. You're going to be focused on the guests, panels and running around looking at all the other cosplayers. By the way, I finally got my outfit ready."

"Oh good!" Ashley's demeaner changed for a brief moment as Brandon said that. "I was worried that you wouldn't have that done. But, I'm off track now." She shook her head and looked back towards her brother.

Her mouth was open to say something, but instead, she placed her hand on her chin and stared at him for a moment. "I want you to come with us, Sammie."

"What?" Sammie almost dropped the food on his fork that he had raised up to his mouth.

"You're in this slump, and I think you need a break. Plus, it'll give you a chance to do more photography work if that's what you want. There's going to be dozens of people there wanting photos of themselves in cosplay. You can be one of the people who can capture those moments." Her face softened a little as she said the next park. "It could even help keep Jen's memory alive. Those amazing photos you always took of people were the ones she loved."

"You honestly want me coming to one of your stupid events?" Sammie asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You didn't seem to think the cons were so stupid before," Ashley snapped back. "I'm getting you the ticket for tomorrow, you're coming, and you're bringing your camera." She inched a little closer to him and gave him a light smile. "I know you still love taking photos. I think it'll be good for you."

Sammie cocked his head but gave out a small laughing breath. "Photos do take my mind off things. I'm not going to have to dress up myself, am I?"

"Hell no, I won't subjugate you to that. For now."

"That'll happen down the line though," Brandon joked. "It happened to me."

"Admit it, you find it fun."

"Can we just finish eating?" Sammie groaned.

After the events of dinner, Sammie unfurled the couch bed and got himself ready to go to sleep. He had been falling asleep earlier than usual, but it would useful tonight as Ashley had also mentioned she would be waking him early.

"Doors open at 10," she told him. "And I want to be there when the con opens."

Sammie rolled his eyes as he remembered his sister's words before collapsing onto the bed. He rolled over on the blanket and listened to the muffled TV noise coming from Ashley and Brandon's room. The noise suddenly merged into thoughts of tomorrow. He would have to be around others in a much tighter space than the park. How many people would actually be there?

Sammie grabbed his phone and started scrolling through his old photos. The last photo of Jen was taken a few days before the accident.

"Capturing those moments of joy, that's what you've always liked about photography, right?" I hope those moments will always appear. Especially in your photos." Her words were still clear.

"I haven't found that joy again, without you," Sammie whispered to the photo before turning off the phone.

Even though he turned over and shut his eyes, his mind kept racing. Sammie couldn't remember the exact time he fell asleep, but Ashley was hovering over him while he was still groggy.

"Up and at 'em!" she yelled, yanking off the blanket which was somehow managing to cover his feet. "I left you breakfast. Don't take forever in the bathroom. We're going to leave within the hour."

He sat up and made a face at the outfit she was wearing. "Are you supposed to look like a school girl?" he called after her.

"Yes!"

Sammie just rolled his eyes, went over to eat the eggs and bacon that was left for him, and was cleaned and dressed within the hour as Ashley requested. He picked up his camera bag that he left by the doorway before joining them outside.

"What kind of look is that supposed to be, Brandon?" Sammie asked. Brandon's red and white robe with a white wig and dog ears was very distinct against his tan skin. "Please tell me you're not driving.

"I'm driving," Ashley said. "And it's a couples cosplay. I'm putting my wig on when we get there. It's in the backseat, so don't sit on it."

"I'm riding with you?"

Against the desire to take his own car to leave the event when he wanted, Sammie was forced into Ashley's car and tolerated the 20-minute car ride to the town's expo center. He had been there for a photography trade show once, but today, there were people lined up outside in colorful clothing. Some carried props bigger than they were. He tried to slump into the seat to hide as Ashley found a spot in the parking garage.

"Out!" she declared once they were safely parked. She reached behind her and grabbed the black wig.

After another half-hour of waiting in the line, people finally started to move. Sammie just grimaced the whole way to try and fight off his displeasure. He didn't even say how his head was throbbing since arriving.

Once inside the expo center, people started dispersing and were wandering about. Different areas were sectioned off by collapsible curtains.

"Feel free to check out whatever you want," Ashley said.

"Going to get pictures already?" Brandon asked noticing Sammie was unzipping his camera bag without looking.

"Yes."

The two left him, and Sammie focused the lens to the ceiling above. A person with an oversized sword almost ran into him. Sammie stepped closer to the curtain and continued with what he was doing.

Once satisfied, he then noticed some small tents set up in a section called "cosplay repair." He snapped a few photos of the tents alone. The throbbing subsided again as he skimmed through those photos.

"What am I even doing?"

"Excuse me?"

Sammie looked up to see a girl in a blue top showing her stomach, a pink skirt with green leaves and a long slit that came to her waist, black hair that he wasn't sure was real or a wig, and sunglasses resting on the top of her head.

"Would you be able to get a photo of me and my crew?" she asked. She held out her phone.

Sammie stared at it for a moment before taking it. The girl walked back to an odd bunch before turning around for the picture. Sammie just clicked the button a couple times without paying attention. When he finally lowered the phone, he cocked his head and looked harder at this group.

One wore a red top, shorts, flip flops, and a hat with a red band. One was dressed in green with boots and three swords were hanging at the waist. One wore a suit with make-up on the eyebrow giving it a curly look. The last one wore a bikini top and jeans and carried a staff. The girl in the blue top came back over.

"Thank you!" she said cheerfully.

"May I see the photos I took for a sec." Sammie asked.

"Do they not look good?" She pulled up the photos. Sammie studied each one as she swapped between them.

"Capturing those moments of joy..." Jen's words came back as he looked at this group. Two had goofy smiles plastered across their faces. The other three had more serious expressions, but their eyes showed that they were enjoying themselves. Sammie had seen that expression many times. It was still around. Jen was right.

"Um..." Sammie tugged at the bandage on his head and finally managed to pull it off. "May I take some photos of you all? With my camera, if that's okay?"

"Sure! Hey guys!" She gestured back at her group to come over.

Blissfully unaware, Ashley did come back and sneak a peek at what her brother was doing or if he disappeared. She smiled seeing how the small group was now posing for him against the curtain.

After taking photos of them at the angles he liked, Sammie went off looking for someone else to take a photo of. He would have to tell Ashley later that his head stopped throbbing.