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>>8656874
I'd been over at the pier nearly all day long taking photos with my new digital SLR, and had only recently been able to get back to the photo lab to process the pictures. In the day the pier was a light with activity, ships passed through the port on and off all day till sunset.
Nothing seemed wrong at the time... until I got to my home lab to review the shots I had taken. Most of pictures were trash shots that I didn't find to enthralling. One trash shot though caught my eye, the boat in the shot was quite old looking. The bulk of the boats exterior was made from wood. I could tell that it wasn't some fiberglass construct but was honest to god timber!
It was like a shot out of time this simple trash shot... hell! even the people near the boat seemed misplaced in the modern surroundings. I must've looked at that shot and the several corresponding shots for nearly 4 hours, my stomach growled and shook me from my trance like state. After a small sandwich my attention turned back to the photo's which I hastily printed in the largest size I could.
I took to the photo's with a strong scrutiny, not denying even the smallest detail any bit of my attention. The crew of the ship seemed to be an unholy lot, skin as dark as coal for most of them that weren't clad in some hap hazard ragged robes. The full gruesome crew seemed to have a shadow hanging over them almost as if they were emitting the blackish shadow themselves! Looking closer at the photo's containing the ship and its crew I noticed a fair sized crate being, apparently, taken down into the hull of the ship.
The more I poured over the photo's the more an unnatural fear seemed to settle into me, trying to get me to tear away from the photo's. In hinds sight I should have listened to the fear that had been gnawing at me.
The next day I returned to the pier... the ship was gone thank god but the area where it had been... strangely the area was non-existent almost as if the pier itself had sealed over to prevent the ships return! I must've passed over the spot looking for any sign of trickery on the strange ships part but found nothing. None of the boards looked out of place and every nail was in its logical place. I only stopped looking when I noticed a few of the other ship folks were staring at me. I went back home and put the whole matter to rest... if rest truly exits in this world.
Returning to my home photo lab I discovered the photo's that had contained the images of the ship and it's crew had blackened as though I'd have had the cover over the lens all the while snapping those photos. The only 'surviving' photo, which seemed only to have survived by the will of the contents, god I wish I had not seen it... the ship was there and the crew as well but the difference was now the entire crew was staring right at me! Each eye was turned directly at the camera. I hadn't taken such a photo... if I had I surely would have died from sure fright!
The damnable feature nearly masked the presence of the crate I'd seen before, though now it had a strange symbol etched into it's side. Among the greyed out features of the photo, for all meaning full color had been drained away from the day in the hellish photo, the symbol stood out in bright red. It was apparently something to note or else wise why would it have been highlighted so? Hearing a sound outside of the lab I hastily put the picture away fearing any unknowing eye would raise questions that I had absolutely NO answers to.
Upon exiting the lab I gave my home a good once over the main floor was absent of anyone and so was the second floor. Returning to my lab I resolved not to return to the pier and to lock away that blasphemy of a photograph.
Here it's been nearly a month now since that final haunting image has seen the light of day but I can still feel the presence of the eyes staring from the dark depths of my lab's corner cabinet. They torture me... I haven't had a good nights sleep since the picture came to light. It won’t matter though in a week... I'm moving further inland and leaving that damned photo behind buried as deep as I can, and I pray that no innocent eyes ever see it again... Maybe my new home in Dunwich Village will have something worth photographing?
© 2011 Stephen M. Brown