Aurora Wasteland Flash Fiction from Instagram…
A flash fiction inspired by the below Instagram image.
There is nothing like getting up before the sun, before the day, before the night has a chance to slink away back to the hole it crawled out of. If you’re lucky (or not depending on your perspective) you might just catch a glimpse of the Aurora Wasteland itself. Night, as we all know is its playground, it’s time to shine, its spotlight. In those hours before the sun comes up, if you’re looking just right, you might catch something. A glimmer of the night before, a nightmare unfinished.
There are certain things in life everyone needs to accomplish. A bucket list of life tasks we have the desire to check before we clock out. And here’s the thing, every single one of us has a unique list. We can’t help each other check them off. Mine are mine, and yours are yours. We are our lists.
The camera of a photographer was found at the base of Moraine Lake. Below are descriptions of the photographs and video found on the camera.
Photograph #1: A single male (his name has been redacted from this post but for simplicity, the male shall be referred to as James), is getting ready in a hotel bathroom. His long beard and hair suggest his style is that he doesn’t give a fuck. The male, James, smiles at the camera in the mirror.
Photograph #2-10: Various photos of James traveling from the hotel to Moraine Lake before the sun rises.
Photograph #11: James at the base of the lake. The sun isn’t up yet, he is the first to arrive.
Video #1: James talks to the camera about his bucket shot. The lake he’s been dying to take a picture of. Why the lake means so much to him, and that he’s tried to get this shot previously but hasn’t been successful for various reasons. Primarily being other people at the lake where he currently stands alone.
Photograph #12: The sun is starting to peek over the horizon. The shadows are long over the lake. He takes his first shot as the sun creeps on the lake. The warm summer greens of the trees around the lake are enhanced by the golden glow of the sun.
Photograph #13: Same as Photograph #12, except for… details explained in Video #2.
Photograph #14: Same as Photograph #12 in every way.
Photograph #15: Same as Photograph #12, except for… details explained in Video #2.
Video #2: James explains that every time he snaps a picture it appears that the season of the lake changes between summer and winter. He isn’t sure if the lake is changing or he is. There was no effect until the sun touched the lake. James is confused but excited.
Photograph #16-34: James in his excitement snaps a barrage of pictures. Flipping between the two seasons. Image after image is a photo of the lake he’s been dying to take. The light, the shadows, all of it insane and nothing but bangers.
Photograph #35: A blurry image, it appears James doesn’t have the correct lens for whatever he trying to take pictures of.
Video #3: James explains that he sees someone swimming out in the lake, but only in the summer photographs. The swimmer is absent from the winter shots. He believes he is traveling in time and not changing the seasons of the lake.
Photograph #35-46: More images of the blurry swimmer. The final image of the burst clearly shows the swimmer’s arm above the ice of the frozen lake.
Video #4: Panicked James realizes he is trapping someone under the ice as he changes the seasons. They appear to be drowning and he’s going to swim out to save them. But he’s leaving his camera on the shore.
Photograph #47: The camera having been clearly left on a rock on the lakeshore has fallen off and triggered the shutter. Both James and the swimmer are not seen in the photograph. The lake is covered in ice. The sun can clearly be seen almost all the way above the horizon.
Photograph #48: Sometime later, the camera is picked up. A photo is snapped as they look at the camera. Melting snow and ice can be seen in the background.
Like items on a bucket list, James was checked off and never seen from again. His camera was turned in to the nearest hotel, who later contacted the Aurora Wasteland after scrolling through the photographs.
(Link to the original post on Instagram by petermckinnon)
