It was a warm summer’s day. The streets of Hanon were especially crowded; a constant bustle of buses, cars, and pedestrians. A man led his son along one of the backstreets where it was less busy. A shortcut. The man was tall and stocky; he had brown hair and eyes, and wore a few days’ growth on his chin. His son was similar in appearance, but he skipped along the street joyfully whereas his father trudged along, discontent.
They kept a steady pace down the street. The boy stared in wonder at the homeless people bathing in the filthy grey water of the drainpipes to keep cool.
“Dad-” the boy began.
“Not now boy.”
He dropped his head and kept walking.
Through the heat, they made their way from the busy inner city through the trade district and towards the residential quadrant.
“Bill?” said a man on the sidewalk. He was perched under a bus stop shelter; he was wearing all black.
The boy’s father looked up at the man in the fine black suit. “Hey Geoff,” He said, “How’s this weather?” He said incredulously.
“It’s quite ridiculous.”
Bill nodded. “How’s the wife?”
They continued with their conversation, but the boy was far more interested in an old war veteran across the road.
“Dad, can I -“
“James, can’t you see I am talking?” His father said in a much more endearing tone than before.
James made his way across the road. The old veteran had fashioned a neat little stall from old doors and scraps of wood. On top of the stall, laid out in a remarkably organized manner were several trinkets, precious rocks, and dozens upon dozens of other strange objects.
One that caught his eye was a small silver prism with a screen and several buttons with labels he couldn’t decipher.
“Excuse me,” James said.
“Hello there young man.” The old veteran piped up, “What can I do for you?”
James smiled, glad for the attention. “Um,” he said, his eyes darting back to the prism, “What’s that?”
The old veteran’s eyes flashed as he picked up the object. “Well, this here is quite special. It’s a radio.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a device which picks up frequencies from all over. Voices, music, you name it.” He saw James expression, “Mind you, all that is done by micro-waves and what not these days.”
James scanned the table again. Amongst a steering wheel and several cans of constituted beans was a black box about as big as his fist. “What’s that?” he asked in wonder.
“It’s a camera.”
“A what?”
The veteran smiled. “A Camera; it takes pictures. Still pictures.”
James looked back over the street at his father. He was still in conversation with Geoff.
“How much?” James asked.
“Well, it’s pretty valuable, but I suppose I could part with it for $20.”
James frowned. “I have $5. And that’s a month’s pocket money.”
The old veteran considered James for a minute. “Well alright then!”
He took the camera and wrapped it in an old sheet. “Be sure to come by again.”
* * *
When they finally made it home, it was an hour or so after dinnertime. James’s mother was furious. She gave them both an earful about being home in time for dinner. James ate his dinner quickly and made his way to his room. He jumped onto his bed and unfolded the sheet covering the little black box. The camera. He inspected it closely. Its surface was lined with tough black leather; a small glass plate protruded from the front and on one side there were several dials. Fascinated, he looked through the eyepiece and played with the dials. The first one controlled the focus and the second controlled the exposure, nothing happened when he twisted the final dial. He assumed it was broken.
There was a knock at the door.
“Yes?” James asked.
“Time for bed honey.” His mother said in her soothing voice.
He brushed his teeth and returned to his bed where he delved into the depths of the camera once again.
“What’s that?” His mother asked.
He grinned up at her. “It’s a camera, it takes pictures. I got it for $5!”
She smiled back. “Do you know how to use it?”
He looked a little embarrassed. “Well, no but I’m a fast learner.”
“That you are.” She smiled and turned out the light, “Sweet dreams.”
James turned on his bedside lamp and spent an hour or so playing with his new toy.
* * *
“Where did you get that?” asked Sara.
“I got it for $5 off some old war veteran.” He grinned as he held up the black box for her to look at. “Cool hey?”
“Very, but what is it exactly?”
“It’s a Camera. It takes pic–”
“I know what a Camera is.” Sara cut in.
“Well how come you didn’t know what it was when I showed you it?”
Sara got up from the floor and walked over to her cupboard. She pulled out a large box and removed several dusty old books. She skimmed through each one until she found what she was looking for.
“Here,” she said pointing to a picture in the middle of the page. “This looks much different to yours, it’s much newer, that’s why I didn’t recognize it.”
“Well mine has more dials.” James said defensively, turning his back on Sara and the book. After a moment, he realised something. “Does that thing show you how to use it?”
She flipped to the next page and began to read. “It says that the dials adjust the light and focus and–”
“How do you take a picture?”
“Don’t be so impatient!” she kept reading, “It says you have to push that button on the top, near the eyepiece and that takes the photo.”
James located the button. “What should I take a picture of?”
“I don’t know, how about a tree?”
James got up and went over to the window. He raised the camera to his eye and pointed it at the beautiful palm tree outside the window. He pushed the button and heard a click.
“Now what?”
“Well, now you have to get it developed. I could ask my dad if he could help us later tonight?”
James smiled.
* * *
The basement was cold and dark, but that was the point. Sara’s father had turned it into his own personal darkroom. Presently he stood hunched over a basin of developing fluid.
The kids sat on the floor watching. James fingered the grout with excitement. Sara stifled a giggle.
“Where was this taken?” Her father asked.
“Outside my room.”
He drew the photograph closer and squinted. “Hmm, I didn’t recognize it. But, then again, I’m not wearing my specs.” He looked at it for a little while longer. “Well I have to get back to work sweetie,” her father said, patting her head lovingly, “Come up in time for dinner okay?”
Sara nodded and he handed her the photo.
“It’s a bit dark in here,” she said, making her way to the corner and flicking a light on. They both sat down and looked at the photograph.
“My father’s right, it does look different; older, dirtier.”
James examined the photo. “Maybe it didn’t develop properly.”
Sara eyed him. “Or maybe the camera is broken.”
“It’s not the camera!”
She shrunk back a little. “Fine, we’ll develop some more and see. We’ll need some more film though, I’m sure dad has a ton of it lying around somewhere. I’ll see if I can find some.”
* * *
James came back three days later. Sara was expecting him and met him at the door.
“Well?”
“I got some new ones.”
“Good, father is out, but he showed me how to develop the photos.”
They went down to the basement and set everything up. Sara got a stool out to elevate herself above the basin.
When she had developed the first photo, she pinned it up and frowned. “I don’t recognize it, is it in our neighbourhood?”
“What? It’s my hou–”
It was James’s house, but far older and more decrepit. The paint was peeling of the walls and the shingles falling off the roof. The yard, which was once full of green grass, was now parched earth. His mother’s rose garden was nonexistent.
“I don’t understand.”
Sara looked just as confused as he did. “Do you still want the next one?”
He nodded.
The next photo showed James’s room. The bed was different; bigger, and there was now a desk in his room, with several large books on it. Band posters lined the walls and the windows had been tinted dark blue.
The final picture was a pair of worn and dirty shoes.
“You were right, it’s broken,” James said, deflated.
Sara was quiet. She was examining the photos again. “Maybe not. Can I borrow it for the night?”
James hesitated. “Okay, but just for the night.”
She smiled.“Of course.”
“Well, I better get home before mum starts worrying. See you tomorrow.”
* * *
Sara wasn’t at school the next day. James made his way to her place as soon as the bell sounded.
“Why weren’t you at school today?”
“It’s amazing, I have to show you,” Sara exclaimed.
She grabbed his arm and danced down the hallway to her room. She opened the door and made her way over to the cupboard.
“Close the door please,” she chirped.
She came back a moment later with a rolled up newspaper in her hand. “Have a look at this; particularly the date.”
He unrolled the newspaper.
THE DISCOVERY
April 8, 2015
Three people were killed in a tragic car accident near Willow creek yesterday afternoon. The car slid out and rammed headfirst into a supply truck. The driver, Mark Wyeth and his two children, Jess and David were killed instantly.
“I don’t want to read that.”
“Okay, but did you have a good look at it?”
She passed him a new photograph. He glanced at it and his eyes widened.
THE DISCOVERY
October 23, 2020
His mouth was wide open.
“Amazing isn’t it?” she said.
“So it shows...the future?”
Sara said, “It appears that way.”
After a moment of silence James said, “I wonder what would happen if we took a picture of ourselves?”
Sara shrugged, “Well it’s obvious isn’t it? We would be five and a half years older.”
James’s eyes lit up. “Let’s do it! Let’s see what we look like all grown up.”
“No, what if one of us is missing an eye or something, then what?”
James was silent for a moment. “Like a pirate?” He blurted out.
“Oh shut up.”
Sara picked up the camera and inspected it. “I’m far more interested in what the third dial is for.”
* * *
The next day they developed another photograph. Sara had twisted the third dial a quarter of a turn and taken a picture of the newspaper again. This time the newspaper wasn’t even in the picture. Only the floorboards were, and they looked aged and decrepit.
“I guess they don’t have newspapers in the future,” James said.
“Either that or it got ripped up. Either way we need to know how far in the future it is. We need something that will never change.”
“What about Town Hall? That has a huge big clock on it.”
“Perfect.” Sara smiled. “You know, we have stumbled upon something truly amazing.”
James nodded. “I’ll ask mum if she can take us tomorrow after school. They just got the car fixed and it’s on the way.”
* * *
“God it’s hot!” Sara said wiping the sweat from her brow.
“Father says it’s global warming.”
Sara scoffed. “They have been saying that for years. That the chemicals are polluting the atmosphere and such.”
“Then what is it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
They took several pictures of town hall, focusing mostly on the clock. They didn’t touch the dial.
When they developed the photos the next day, they were surprised to find that the clock wasn’t even there. Town hall was gone, at least the one that they knew, the old building in the centre of Hanon. Big stone pillars and ancient architecture. In its place was a tall slender building, a large LCD panel displaying the time and date: 12:24 Pm - 15.07.2055.
“My god, 40 years! 25 years further than last time.”
“Yes, and the sky looks different. Redder.”
She drew the picture closer and inspected it, then passed it to James. “Does the sun look bigger to you?”