Sandra didn’t know why there was a ghost in her photo.
She knew it was a ghost because of the clear, almost invisible, figure that was standing behind her oldest son in the kitchen. She had taken a photo of him eating a cookie, a classic photo if he were five, but this one was taken with a bit of sadness in her heart as he was seventeen. She snapped it with an objection from him because his braces were showing. He left the kitchen as she shook the instant film, and by the time it developed, the ghost made their presence known.
Later, her son would be dead. Killed by an escaped orangutan from the zoo.
Her husband and three kids buried her son. She took a photo of her youngest placing a rose on his casket and found the ghost plus one more standing in the frame.
The next day, her youngest would perish in a freak accident while playing tag using an electrified fly swatter.
At the funeral, her husband begged her not to take any pictures and to use a smartphone like everyone else. Sandra wouldn't hear of it. She wanted real memories in real photos and she took a picture of her husband. In the photo, he was reaching for her in a panic with three ghosts around him.
The next day, he died mid-stride while on his way to work. The cause? A crow flew into his eye and killed him.
She didn’t have a funeral for him.
Sandra and her only child sat in their house. Her daughter, a tween, was upset that everyone had died and was angry at her mom. Survivor's guilt had driven a wedge between them, that, and the fact that her mom had deliberately killed her dad with the camera. Her daughter grabbed the camera and crushed it under her foot, only to have the object lay in one piece as she tried her best to break it. It resisted every attempt she used to dismantle it.
Not allowing such a lack of respect to go unanswered, Sandra grabbed her camera once more and took a photo. Her only child stood in the frame, mortified, as she was surrounded by four ghosts.
The next day, she died. How did she die after making sure she wouldn’t leave the house to tempt her possible fate? In her room, she slipped, fell out of the window, and into a kiddy pool filled with water. She had survived the fall, but then the AC unit kicked on, and on top of it was a plugged-in toaster that fell into the pool whilst toasting sourdough bread.
The camera was found in one of the closets. Sandra thought it would make for some fun. Some novelty in their modern lives of smartphones and tablets. An old instant camera to make some memories.
Little did she know she would be making the people she loved into memories.
When the police walked into the house to do a wellness check, a call was placed by a neighbor who noticed both cars had flat tires in the driveway, the first thing they noticed was a smell. A stench that one of the officers knew too well as they made their way toward it. Rounding the corner, they found Sandra dead at the kitchen table. The lamp hanging over the kitchen table had fallen and impaled her skull with its sharp points.
On the table next to her corpse was an instant photo.
In the photo, she was wearing the same clothes and sitting in the same chair surrounded by five ghosts.
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