Picture

How do you actually fake a photograph? They say a picture [or a photograph in this case] paints [captures] a thousand words [a thousand emotions]. So there it was a family portrait fest going about the church. It was family month, and one of the biggest highlights of the events orchestrated would be a family portrait session.

I had thoughts racing through my mind at the speed of sound, with the outstanding feature that it races around my head in a circular motion, making certain that I’d take notice of it. And I did. What if I asked my family to a session of family photography? What emotions would be captured by the lens? A lens so brutally demanding. Honesty is what it wants. How do you fake a smile?

I try not to judge. Really. But everytime I look at him, I hear ear-piercing screams of pain. I can smell the sickening scent of charred flesh. I smell blood. I smell anguish. I hear tears dropping.

Will my picture look like another perfect family portrait? Well, one thing can be certain; that no family is perfect. That, I can identify as the universal truth. But will I be able to have one family photo where I’d be able to tell that happiness and love really did saturate the air? I fear. I question. I yearn. I don’t know. I. Don’t. Want. To. Think. Further.

A picture so torn is not worth capturing in the first place. Time to heal the picture.