MicroHorror

“Danny, will you be okay?” Alicia asked.

“Yeah, don’t worry, honey. I’ll be all right. I’ll do the dishes, take out the trash and I’ll start a load of laundry by the time you get back,” I said.

Alicia smiled, nodded and walked out the front door. Two minutes later, she was on her way to the gym.

It’s 10 a.m. now and her class starts in half an hour. She should be back home by noon.

Damn… I better hurry up and get things done.

I love taking pictures. Alicia says that I’m obsessed, which is probably the best way to describe it. I always have a camera with me, even when I’m at work. I now have eight cameras that I use, depending on the situation.

It’s so cool to look at the screen on my digital camera and see the pictures as I take them. I know that instant if the shot is a keeper and if not, I delete it and just shoot again.

I haven’t touched a camera since we got back from Puerto Rico. That was two weeks ago.

We went to the island to see my parents. They decided to move back to P.R. when they retired four years ago. They actually had a house built in the same neighborhood they had lived in when they were kids. It’s in an old little town: one cop, one traffic light and one mile from the beach. You really can’t beat it.

Mom and Dad were really happy to see us. We ate, drank, went to the beach and did some local sightseeing. All the while, I was shooting pictures.

We were even lucky enough to catch a small local town festival. There was a band playing, locals were selling their crafts and the smell of food was everywhere.

Alicia fell in love with a carved wooden box at an artisan’s booth and she just had to buy it. While Alicia was getting money from her purse, I asked the vendor if I could take her picture. The dark woman was dressed in a loose flowing white cotton sundress and wore a head wrap made of the same white fabric. On one wrist, she wore bracelets made of colorful beads and on the other a gold bracelet with an onyx charm shaped like a little fist. She smiled knowingly. This shot would be a keeper.

I raised my camera to take the shot and then vaguely heard Alicia calling my name. Her words seemed slurred. The air thick and something like an electrical charge ran through my body. I almost blacked out but I regained my composure just in time to see the woman walking away from us.

“Danny, are you okay?” Alicia asked.

“Yeah, it must be the heat. I’m all right,” I replied.

I checked the camera and I saw that all I got was that woman’s legs and a couple of chickens that were wandering near us. Damn…

I was coming out with the trash, as Alicia pulled into the driveway. The whites were already in the wash and I had had just enough time to take a shower. Thank God, I got everything done.

Alicia got out of the car and gave me a big hug. She turned to go in the house and I suddenly wished I had my camera.

She froze in her tracks. Her eyes widened and her lips trembled as a whimper escaped her. She stared at the dead chicken hanging from its feet, tied to the front door.

I smiled; that could’ve been a keeper.