The Camera Never Lies

Flash wasn't sure what to expect when he took the job, he only knew it was a chance to be honest again. Oh, he was successful in his field, but it wasn't what he'd set out to do and left him empty. One thing he certainly hadn't been expecting was to find his own face among those crowding the high school bleachers, but there it was in his viewfinder. It wasn't possible. He'd never been here before and was hundreds of miles from the town he grew up in.

Then he heard the boy's name and became even more confused. His camera hadn't lied. It couldn't. He did that before he pressed the shutter.

Ben watched the man that had to be his father as the woman spoke to the students. The resemblance was undeniable and the fact that he was a photographer unsurprising. His mother told him his father had always had his camera and used it as a shield to keep the world at bay. Once the woman introduced him to their audience, he knew for sure. He wasn't sure what he felt beside curiosity and perhaps a little sympathy. After all, his mother had never tried to find Flash to tell him he was going to be a father.

Diane felt shock when she heard Flash's name from Ben's lips. What would it mean? What would he want? She'd had good reasons for not finding him and even better ones to run away from home. It didn't take long for Flash to show up at the bar. It didn't take much longer to realize the man before her today was no happier than the eighteen-year-old boy had been. Even worse, the old respect and admiration she'd felt for him was still there, as were his walls. But she was no longer a frightened girl and if anything could become of them this time around, it was going to be up to her.