Forlot: Wanna Take a Photo of Me Too? - Book Hundred-Nine

Chapter One

I always wanted to become a photographer since that I enrolled in kindergarten. I adored photos so much that I sometimes found myself staring at them. Real photos or drawings. I loved all pictures - but the inappropriate ones. I stink at drawing. I cannot even draw shapes! So photography was the next best thing - if Mom and Dad let me have my own camera.

My parents bought me my first smartphone - that I am still using - during my thirteenth birthday. So I figured that a camera was in my near future. I knew of the one on my phone. Today's phones include the Camera app. But I like the look and feel of an actual camera. I enjoy the photos sliding out and holding them. I also like the white frame around them.

I guess that you can call me old school. I prefer holding and flipping books to holding a phone or a tablet. They do not have the same feel. I hardly use my phone, even for calling or texting. I have no social media. So yeah. I am old school. I wished that my parents gave me a nice camera instead of a phone. I would have been satisfied with a used camera. I only wanted a working camera. I would do almost anything to have one to call my own.

Now I was fourteen - without a camera still. Not on my fourteenth birthday. Not for a reward. I received other stuff that I desired. Shirts. Dresses. Shoes. Books. Both board and video games. A computer. Two dolls. Even a bakery set. But no camera, not even a hint. Somehow, I managed to not look disappointed. I was so thankful. I will forever be thankful for my parents. It was just that I really, really wanted a camera. Nothing more. That is what I finally told my parents.

"Mom. Dad. I am not complaining. I just want to know why you have not gotten me a camera. I have proven to be responsible. And I said that it can be used. You gave me a phone and laptop. Why not a camera? What must I do to have a camera?"

We were sitting across from each other in the big living room and discussing you-know-what. My parents were on one couch. I was on the other. I was kicking my legs back and forth and fiddling with my fingers. I was sooo worried how Mom and Dad would answer. Maybe they did not want me to own a camera. But why? I was fully aware that cameras are not cheap...but computers and phones are not either. So why no camera?

"Oh, sweetie," Mom replied with a sad expression. "We know how much you want your very own camera. After all, you deserve it."

I was a bit surprised by her response. The conversation was going smooth so far.

"Believe us," Dad joined in. "We would love to give you a camera." He leaned forward and clasped his hands in his lap. He cleared his throat. "This may be difficult for you to believe, but not one store here sells cameras."

I was not expecting that.

I squinted at him. "The stores do not sell any cameras? That is weird."

"That is what I said when we went to that photography shop," Mom commented. "The only clerk there did not have an explanation why—"

"A photography shop sells zero cameras!" Dad finished as he raised his fist and smacked it on the couch's arm. Sometimes, he can get heated. Thankfully, he does not snap at me because he does not want to scare me. "Can you believe that? I was outraged! What store selling all the equipment that photography needs...does not have the most essential thing?!"

Mom wrapped an arm around his and patted it. "Relax before you have a heart attack, honey." She gazed back at me. The sad expression was still written on her face. "Your dad was so outraged that he almost punched the clerk's face."

"The shop probably sold out of cameras," I suggested. I blew away my hair strand that fell in front of my face. I stretched out my legs and squeezed both knees. "Dad. I do not want you to head to jail over a camera. You hear me?"

He let out a long whoosh of air and nodded. "Loud and clear."

"Polly," Mom said my name. "The clerk told us that the shop has never sold cameras. He added that you would be lucky to find a camera in this town."

I pondered what she just said. "I wonder why there are no cameras in Forlot. Are they banned or something?"

They shook their heads.

"The cashiers in the other stores told us the same thing using the same words," Mom explained. "It was indeed creepy. They sounded like robots."

Now I was a little creeped out. "What did they say?"

"They stated that cameras are not illegal here. They are just rare for a reason that nobody knows."

I felt like a jerk. All this time, I figured that my parents did not want me to have a camera for a stupid reason. I knew now that they could get one only if they bought it out of Forlot. They spent their free time going to all the stores here, hoping to locate the perfect camera for me. They wanted my dream to come true. They just wanted me to be happy. No. Joyful.

I forced myself off the couch and ran to them. I hugged them ever so tightly. "Thanks for trying. I appreciate it. I had no idea that cameras are rare here. Wish that you told me."

They hugged me back.

"We did not want you to be disappointed," Mom said.

"And give up on your dream," Dad added. "But camera or no camera. You will be the best photographer ever."

I would become a good photographer. Too good.