Snapped Twenty Years Ago

Snapped Twenty Years Ago

Spring cleaning comes early in the warm parts of the country. January is a great time to rip open all the windows and get to clearing dust and clutter out of corners and closets.

John and Candice each worked through a box of old things they had kept since before they moved to their home. Most of the items they found were pointless and would get discarded on the next trash day.

Until Candice held up a camera. "This is where it is! I don't think I have used it for twenty years."

John reached for it, but Candice pulled it out of his reach.

"There is a film roll in it." She carefully rewound the film with the manual mechanism until she felt that the precious cellulose was completely safe inside of its dark shell. She popped the back of the camera open and retrieved the treasure.

"We found a time capsule." She got up and before John really knew what happened, she was already at the door and called, "I'm going to get the photos developed."

It was easier said than done, but two weeks later, Candice was able to go pick up her photos from the last photo store in town that had held on to the old machines needed for this type of work.

Candice and John sat next to each other on the sofa. The photos were candid shots of both of them during their last Mardi Gras before they got married.

Candice took one of the photos out of the stack and took it to the bathroom. She held the picture up next to her face. "There is nothing to be done about the laugh-lines. Those make me more interesting." She pulled on her sagging jowls. "This is fat and sloth and too much sugar. I don't need to look this used up." She glanced one more time at her twenty-year-ago self and said, "I won't be able to and I don't want to erase the years and the age, but I am not going to be this version of me who gave up."

She walked into the living room and announced, "We're getting a gym membership."

John groaned. "Is that some sort of late New Year's resolution?"

"No." She pulled a picture of him out of the stack. "Time to get yourself back to the handsome hunk." She dropped the picture of herself on his photo. "I'm not ready to look more than my actual age. Two years mostly at home is all I can do. I'm ready for this time of doing nothing to be over."

John got up and gently slapped his paunch. "You hear that old buddy? You and I have to part ways." He smiled. "Alright then. Let's do it."

465 words

The Writer's Cramp is 20!! ▼

"The Writer's Cramp"  January 27, 2022 prompt:
The Cramp is 20 years old this week, so...
Write a poem or story about someone discovering a memento (photograph, carving, video file, magical doll, mysterious key, whatever!) from 20 years ago that reveals a secret (provides information, rekindles a forgotten memory, grants a vision, opens a locked door, etc).
How does this discovery change your character's understanding of the world / their life / their past?
What do they do in response?
What happens?