Day 4

An idea for a story a had a while back. The first few paragraphs were written previously, but the rest is new.

***

The Perfect Shot

Agatha squinted through the viewfinder and frowned. Her finger rested on the shutter release button, but she couldn't bring herself to take the picture. The ancient wall lost some unnameable quality when made to fit within the frame. Lowering the camera, she tried to figure out what it was that was missing. Was it the texture of the individual stones, worn by centuries of weather? Or the pattern they formed, interlocking perfectly together as they did. Or the way they glowed in the afternoon sun. She shook her head. Why was this so difficult?

"Watcha doing?"

She’d half expected the interruption; maybe that was why she jumped. Agatha turned to look at her friend. "Elise, not now, okay?"

"Oh, come on, you’ve been at that for ages. Why don’t you give it a rest and explore for a bit? I heard the tour guide say something about a trail up that cliff." Elise gestured at the rock face behind her. "Sounds like we could get a great view of the whole ruin, and the canyon landscape." She grinned and waggled her eyebrows. "I bet there's lots of stuff to take pictures of."

Agatha knew her friend was trying to make her feel better, but the sun was hot and Agatha was tired and it just. Wasn't. Working.

"I don't understand!" she said. "Nothing looks right."

"Well standing there starting at a wall isn't gonna help. Come on!"

Suddenly Agatha found herself being pulled by her arm through the ruins.

***

To be continued tomorrow, when I'm not quite so tired. Gah, I wish I were more prolific. I shall never never write enough for a novel if I don't learn to write more.