Timi had a camera
So yes, I missed yesterday because I was at a script workshop
Before we get into today’s story I just want to say… I’m not apologizing for missing yesterday, just letting you know that while I fully remembered and even put down a rough idea based on the prompt, I was too busy to get around to it.
Anyway, enjoy.
On the third day of the second month of the Two Thousand and Twenty Fifth Year after the recorded death of a great man, in a tiny compound, in a quiet neighbourhood in the busiest city of the Southwesternmost state in the country of Nigeria, a young boy, aged 8 and a half, did a thing. His name is Timi, and Timi had a camera.
“What is it?”
“Is it a—“
“What do you think it is?”
“Maybe it’s a—“
“What is it?”
A sudden quiet fell upon the congregation of two as Timi stared intensely at his impatient companion, aged 6. His little sister, Tayo.
“That’s what I’m trying to answer,” Timi managed to say. Tayo nodded intently, hoping they could return to unravelling the mystery.
You see, at the 25th second of the sixth minute of the 17th hour of the... At 5:06 PM on Monday the 3rd of February 2025, Timi took a picture of a peculiar object with his mirrorless digital camera. It was a gift from his second favourite uncle, Uncle Tunde, on his birthday exactly two weeks prior. Uncle Tunde was his second favourite uncle because unlike Uncle Dami who got him a Fortnite themed backpack, Uncle Tunde didn’t understand the assignment. Nevertheless, a camera was still a cool gift.
However, the mystery of what exactly the two had captured with said camera indeed persisted.
“So, what is it?” Tayo asked.
Timi opened his mouth to speak, then paused suddenly, before dropping his shoulders, sighing. “I don’t know.”
Tayo nodded. “Me too.”
Thus, the two stared long and hard, once more, at the object captured in the image. They stared as long as a whole sixteen and a half seconds, before Tayo got bored and walked off. Timi, couldn’t take his eyes off it, however. The longer he stared, the greater his focus on this object grew, and the more his awareness of his external environment lessened.
All of a sudden, it was like all the bells and whistles inside of his little, eight and a half year old head, stared to blare. “Wait.”
At the peak of his focus, just as suddenly as he was hit the realisation of the answer, all but completely formed in his mind, he was struck on the side of the head with a flying object, pulling him out of his hyper focus.
He snapped his neck in the direction of the throw to see his little sister pouting at him. “I’m bored.”
Timi looks to the ground for the object that struck him. It was a crumpled piece of paper. He looked back up at his little sister, nodded, and walked to meet her, camera in hand.
“So, what do you want to do,” he asks.
“Let’s play avatar,” she gleefully suggests.
His face beams, “Okay! I’ll be avatar and you’ll be Katara.”
“No! I want to be Avatar.”
“But Avatar is a boy.”
Tayo stops in her tracks and folds her arms, refusing to take another step further with this male. “No!”
Timi sighs. “Okay, you can be avatar.”
She smiles and nods vehemently. “So, what was it?”
Timi stares at her, confused.
“What?”
“The thing in your camera.”
“Oh…” Timi replied. He pauses to recall, then looks her right in the eye. Tayo unconsciously balls her fists at her sides in a bid to control her sudden excitement. Timi opens his lips to reveal the answer to the just now forgotten mystery.
“I—“ He begins.
Her eyes grow even wider in anticipation, and then he concludes.
“—don’t remember.”