Ethan Daniels: A Thousand Words
Chapter Two
After managing to pry open my window, hoist Shiloh through it, then pull myself up behind him, we headed on our way to the bog. It wasn't too long of a walk there, but it was still just enough to make me wish I knew how to drive. Shiloh was wearing his sunglasses, as he usually does when he goes outside, which always kinda bothered me. But any time I asked him if he would please just take them off, he would shake his head and purse his lips stubbornly. I had to learn to get over the fact that he even wore them when the sun wasn't out. That kid confused me beyond words.
Once we made it to the bog's entrance, which was surrounded by trees, tall grass and the sound of crickets and bullfrogs, I checked my watch. It was 12:13 and I was getting ants in my pants.
"Okay, are you ready for this, Shi?" I asked as I pulled my camera out of the bag.
"As ready as I'll ever be." He replied, after gulping dramatically.
"'Atta boy!" I said, smiling, "Now here, take my camera for a second while I set up the tripod-- but be extremely, EXTREMELY careful with it!"
My camera was like my child. Everywhere I went, it went. I couldn't see a world without me and a camera bag around my shoulder. Seriously. I had taken millions of pictures with that thing, and that's no exaggeration. Grace would sometimes take me into her room to take pictures of these elaborate scenes she would set up with her dolls. They were actually pretty well thought out. She was an artistic little girl. Very creative. She adored it when I would take pictures of her in her dress up clothes. She said it made her feel like a movie star.
"Hey, Ethan? Does this camera take video?" Shiloh asked.
"Oh, yeah. That thing does everything, man. It's great!"
I had begged for the longest time for my parents to buy me a camera that can do anything cameras are capable of doing. They finally gave in on my tenth birthday, and I have kept it ever since. There's more to it now than just being a really cool camera. It has memories along with it, and it eventually turned out to be a lot more important than I had thought. And I mean a LOT more important. But we'll get to that later.
Once I finished setting up the tripod, I attached the camera to it and walked further into the woods to get a better angle of the bog. I checked my watch again. It had just turned 12:15 and my heart skipped a beat. I turned to Shiloh, who had hesitantly followed me along the pathway. "This is so exciting, man!" I whispered, "What if we actually see this thing?"
Shiloh tried to look excited, but he was too busy holding back tears. He swallowed loudly, "Whatever you do," he whimpered as he pushed his sunglasses up his nose, "DON'T play lame piano music at my funeral. I think dubstep or something shows my personality better."
"Shh!" I put my finger to my lips. I turned back towards the bog and my eyes widened. I could see her in the distance. She was just nearly at the perfect distance for my shot. I slowly held onto the tripod and moved it back a few inches. I kept my eye on the banshee the whole time as I situated the camera. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She was like a bright white orb of light floating in a sea of darkness, just illuminating the trees to either side of her, and the water in the bog underneath. I breathed heavily and slowly lowered my eye to the lens of the camera. I looked through and brought my finger to the button on top. I suddenly remembered an important fact: a banshees weakness is sudden flashes of bright light, and my flash setting was on. I let out a breath of relief as I thanked God for reminding me that, and I switched the setting to off. After all, I wasn't there to kill the thing, I just wanted a nice picture and I would be on my way.
Maybe it would have been better to have used flash. Things would be a lot different if I had, anyway.
I lowered myself back to the lens and looked through. The banshee had actually moved to a perfectly centered position. I took that moment to marvel over the fact that I finally found a monster, after six whole years of waiting. I took a deep breath.
At that moment, my thoughts were drowned out by a sound. A loud screeching sound.
The sound of a banshee.
Once we made it to the bog's entrance, which was surrounded by trees, tall grass and the sound of crickets and bullfrogs, I checked my watch. It was 12:13 and I was getting ants in my pants.
"Okay, are you ready for this, Shi?" I asked as I pulled my camera out of the bag.
"As ready as I'll ever be." He replied, after gulping dramatically.
"'Atta boy!" I said, smiling, "Now here, take my camera for a second while I set up the tripod-- but be extremely, EXTREMELY careful with it!"
My camera was like my child. Everywhere I went, it went. I couldn't see a world without me and a camera bag around my shoulder. Seriously. I had taken millions of pictures with that thing, and that's no exaggeration. Grace would sometimes take me into her room to take pictures of these elaborate scenes she would set up with her dolls. They were actually pretty well thought out. She was an artistic little girl. Very creative. She adored it when I would take pictures of her in her dress up clothes. She said it made her feel like a movie star.
"Hey, Ethan? Does this camera take video?" Shiloh asked.
"Oh, yeah. That thing does everything, man. It's great!"
I had begged for the longest time for my parents to buy me a camera that can do anything cameras are capable of doing. They finally gave in on my tenth birthday, and I have kept it ever since. There's more to it now than just being a really cool camera. It has memories along with it, and it eventually turned out to be a lot more important than I had thought. And I mean a LOT more important. But we'll get to that later.
Once I finished setting up the tripod, I attached the camera to it and walked further into the woods to get a better angle of the bog. I checked my watch again. It had just turned 12:15 and my heart skipped a beat. I turned to Shiloh, who had hesitantly followed me along the pathway. "This is so exciting, man!" I whispered, "What if we actually see this thing?"
Shiloh tried to look excited, but he was too busy holding back tears. He swallowed loudly, "Whatever you do," he whimpered as he pushed his sunglasses up his nose, "DON'T play lame piano music at my funeral. I think dubstep or something shows my personality better."
"Shh!" I put my finger to my lips. I turned back towards the bog and my eyes widened. I could see her in the distance. She was just nearly at the perfect distance for my shot. I slowly held onto the tripod and moved it back a few inches. I kept my eye on the banshee the whole time as I situated the camera. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She was like a bright white orb of light floating in a sea of darkness, just illuminating the trees to either side of her, and the water in the bog underneath. I breathed heavily and slowly lowered my eye to the lens of the camera. I looked through and brought my finger to the button on top. I suddenly remembered an important fact: a banshees weakness is sudden flashes of bright light, and my flash setting was on. I let out a breath of relief as I thanked God for reminding me that, and I switched the setting to off. After all, I wasn't there to kill the thing, I just wanted a nice picture and I would be on my way.
Maybe it would have been better to have used flash. Things would be a lot different if I had, anyway.
I lowered myself back to the lens and looked through. The banshee had actually moved to a perfectly centered position. I took that moment to marvel over the fact that I finally found a monster, after six whole years of waiting. I took a deep breath.
At that moment, my thoughts were drowned out by a sound. A loud screeching sound.
The sound of a banshee.