to be so lonely • hs

twenty five

I walked into Poe's a few minutes later than Harry and I had agreed to meet. It wasn't for any particular reason other than getting off of a call later than expected, but still, I rushed in feeling bad.

I spotted him at a table in the back corner, where the lights were dimmer and the music was softer. He had two mugs on the table, and his arms crossed as he stared down at the drinks, a blank stare on his face.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm here." I pulled the chair in front of him out, catching him by surprise as his eyes traveled up to me, a small smile accompanying his nod.

"Hi." He greeted, uncrossing his arms and sitting upright.

I placed my small brown backpack against the chair, then sat properly, offering him a smile as well. It wasn't necessarily cold out, but Harry wore a brown knit jumper, and his curls were quite full today. He hadn't gotten it cut in a while.

He noticed as I looked down at the mug in front of me, full to the brim with coffee, the smell traveling its way into my nose.

"If it's not good, I can get you something else." He started, watching as i lifted it carefully to sip the coffee that was, surprisingly, still warm. It was pretty delicious, and I found humor in the look of disgust on Harry's face as he watched me enjoy the taste he didn't.

"It's perfect, thank you." I nodded, smiling at the tea in his mug.

He took a sip from his and sighed into the seat, looking up at the ceiling. I don't think either of us knew how to start such a conversation. I thought maybe it might be best to ease into it, so we'd both feel a bit more comfortable before getting extremely uncomfortable.

I turned in my seat and unzipped my bag, digging in for the packaged envelope I'd placed in just before leaving work.

I held it up and Harry raised his eyebrow, unsure of what I was showing him.

"I got the film developed." I explained, watching his eyebrows raise in surprise. "I wanted to wait till now to open them."

Harry leaned over the table as I opened the envelope, carefully sliding the prints between the tips of my fingers. I set them down between us, shifting my chair over a bit so we could view them at the same angle.

We both eyed the first picture, which took a great deal of time to figure out. On the top left corner was a large red leak, with a yellow glow around it. In the middle of the image, a shadow of some sort. And in the bottom right, something that appeared to be a hand. While I couldn't be 100% sure, I came up with the solution that the photo was taken in the dark with the flash on against a bright white wall, the photo being of a shadow puppet, using hands.

"It's cute. Sort of creepy, though." I commented, moving to the next.

This one was much easier to interpret— as the distortion wasn't too terrible. It was two children sat on a porch, smiling for the camera. There was a really blue tint to the photo, but nothing insane.

"Do you think a mum owned the camera?" Harry asked, taking the image carefully into his own hands.

"Possibly." I nodded as it didn't seem unlikely.

The next photo was much more distorted, and the only thing I could really make out was what looked to be a tree amidst the dark lighting and large light leaks.

A few of the photos were at the beach, and were much better quality. One in particular was quite lovely. It was of a child, who I assumed was one of the two in the photo prior, running out to the shore in a bright yellow swimsuit.

"I love this one." I spoke, my voice quiet as we looked closely.

The next three were shots of what was likely their home, specifically, a door, a window, and a sink with a running tap. Whoever owned this camera was experimenting, and documenting their daily life with their family. It was really wholesome.