Dark Keys of Uncomplacency

Chapter 7: Getting Acquainted

The rattling sound of the engine was not reassuring at all. The car sounded as if it were on its last leg and breaking down any second.

Allison melted into the hot, uncomfortable leather interior of the passenger seat, with her back sliding against her damp shirt, which was stuck firmly to the seat. She made sure her arms were tightly at her sides, self-conscious that she might stink. The boy didn't seem to mind at all. He stayed silent with his eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel.

"It's another left up ahead", said Allison.

"Mhmm, I got it", as if he knew where to go.

Allison stole another quick glance at this perfect stranger and could not shake the feeling that she'd seen him before. He finally broke the silence, just as her gaze turned back towards the road.

"So what were you doing running by Turnberry Plaza anyway?".

"What, there some law against it or something?".

"N-no, not at all", he stuttered. "It's just a busy place to run through. You'd probably find a better route going thru Maplewood Park over there".

He motioned to his right at this monumental park entrance, a brass arch with Maplewood etched into it. Underneath the park entrance stood a 4-foot podium made out of the same material as the sign above it. There were numerous inscriptions carved into the podium, but Allison couldn't make out a single one of them from the red light they sat at. The park was surrounded by enormous trees that shaded the walkway along the perimeter. Towards the center of the seemingly endless green field lied a beautiful white stone bridge that traversed the murky pond below it.

"I'll check it out sometime", Allison said as she watched a pair of small children pushing each other off of a squeaky swing set.

"Yeah you should!", replied the boy with a burst of enthusiasm. "I get my best shots in Maplewood. There's so many subjects to be captured, so much life to be documented".

"You're not some peeping-tom, are you?".

"No I just capture the story I see. I was heading there yesterday, but then I realized the camera wasn't working".

Allison looked back at the grey, antique camera sitting in the middle of the back seat and wondered what images would look like through a scratched lense.

"I'm sorry again".

"Really, it's no problem. It stopped working last week. Wasn't expecting it to last long, it's from the 60's I think".

"Why didn't you just get a newer one then?".

"The professionals start with the oldest equipment", he said with a raised brow. "Working with an old camera like that, you're constantly forced to focus on so many elements that affect even the shots taken with advanced cameras today".

"Whatever you say", Allison replied. She could tell the boy was some kind of expert in the area of photography—far beyond the "point-and-shoot", smartphone-wielding photographers.

"Isn't there a Best-Buy around here though? 'Needful things' sounds like a rip off", Allison chuckled.

The boy sighed with dismay. "Yeah you're probably right. It's the name of the place that has me going back every once in a while though".

"What, Eugene's Needful Things? It sounds familiar actually, like a movie I saw a couple years ago".

"Yeah it was a Stephen King novel—minus the 'Eugene's'! They made it into a movie back in '93". Allison vaguely remembered watching the movie on tv, maybe only half-watching. Her father had been really into Stephen King; almost every other book off the shelf that she and her mother packed away was by the author.