The shadows came dressed for the occasion.
A Pattern on Her Hand
Nina noticed the flowers on Mara’s hand before she noticed the lace.
They were shadows, small and dark, resting across Mara’s fingers as she held the curtain near the window. When she moved the fabric, the flowers moved too.
“Could we try something?” Nina asked.
Mara looked at the camera hanging around her cousin’s neck. “Am I going to be in it?”
“If you’d like. I want to make a portrait for the photography exhibition at school.”
Nina was twelve, and this would be the first time she had submitted a portrait. She had photographed the garden, the family cat, and the view from her bedroom window, but she had been thinking about the photographs of people she wanted to make next.
Mara lifted the lace higher. “What are you imagining?”
“Those flowers,” Nina said, pointing to her hand. “But on your face.”
A Shadow Over One Eye
Mara draped the lace lightly over her hair and sat beside the window. Nina lifted her camera. The afternoon light passed through the fabric and laid a pattern across Mara’s forehead and cheek.
“That looks lovely,” Nina said. “Can I take one?”
Mara nodded.
Nina checked the photograph on the screen, then brought it over for her to see. One flower-shaped shadow fell directly across Mara’s left eye.
“I like the flowers,” Mara said. “Could we see both my eyes?”
Nina looked again. “I think so. The lace moved when you turned.”
“Would you like me to stay still?”
“First, let’s find where it works.”
They tried lifting one edge of the lace. The shadow moved onto Mara’s nose. When Mara lowered it again, the pattern slipped across her cheek.
“It keeps changing its mind,” she said.
“Then we’ll give it a few choices.”
Finding the Light Together
Nina moved a little to one side while Mara held the lace in place. The flowers lay across her forehead now, with smaller shapes near her cheek. Both eyes were clear.
“Can you see the pattern?” Nina asked.
“Not from here.” Mara looked towards the window. “Will you show me afterwards?”
“Every one, if you want.”
Nina took a photograph, then another as the light shifted. In one, the lace cast a broad shadow. In the next, a cluster of little flowers appeared above Mara’s eyebrow.
They looked at the screen together. Mara liked one photograph where her expression was calm and the lace framed her face. Nina liked the same one; the shapes on Mara’s forehead were clear, but her eyes were the first things Nina noticed.
“Does it still look like you?” Nina asked.
Mara studied the picture. “Yes. I look as though I’m thinking about something.”
“Were you?”
“I was wondering whether my nose would get its own flower.”
Flowers in the Photograph
They took a few more pictures before the light moved away from the window. Then Mara folded the lace across her lap while Nina compared the photographs.
“The one we chose is still my favourite,” Nina said.
“Mine too. May I have a copy?”
“Of course.” Nina saved it for the exhibition and sent another copy to Mara.
Mara looked down at the folded lace. “Do you need any more flowers for your next portrait?”
Nina checked the photograph once more. “The lace brought enough for this one.”
She set her camera beside her. On the windowsill, a small patch of sunlight remained. Mara held the lace above it, and a few shadow flowers appeared on the wood.
“Your hand is out of the picture now,” Nina said.
“Does it mind?”
“I’ll ask it for the next photograph.”
Livora Gracely ♥
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