"Wordsmiths Fiction Week 3: Season 24 – The Last Photo"

AI generated

Hello, friends welcome to my post in which I have discussed "The Last Photo" as part of my participation in this 👉Steemit Challenge S24W1 | organized by @senehasa

Nadeesha loved wildlife photography. Every weekend, she carried her camera and went deep into the forest near her village. She waited silently for many hours to capture animals in their natural behavior. She has so many collections, like a leopard yawning, a deer drinking water, or a bird feeding its chicks.

One bright morning, before sunrise, she left her home. “Today I am going to explore a new trail. I heard that there is a hidden lake deep in the forest,” she said to her brother.

That night she didn’t return. Her family worried and asked for help. A search crew went into the forest and searched for her everywhere. She was nowhere, but one of the members of the team found her camera lying near an old tree.

When they checked the camera's memory card, they found something strange. They were frightened to see the last photo of the lens. There was a small wooden hut and a half-covered tall figure stood at the door of the hut.

The search crew looked everywhere again and again but with no success.

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Based on the above story, here is what I can say of the story that is picked up from the mysterious disappearance of Nadeesha.

No ordinary forest dweller is the figure that was captured in the last image by Nadeesha. It is hooded, tall, and looks barely like a human, and stands eerily still at the doorstep of the hut that is made of wood. However, from the image, we weren't able to see what happened just seconds after the shutter clicked, which is something that wasn't shown in the image.

The figure shifted (moved).

Source

The figure didn't walk. Instead, it glided across the floor of the forest, and Nadeesha began to stumble back. But as curious and fearless person she is, Nadeesha didn't run away. Instead of fleeing away, she followed it. The figure Nadeesha is deep beyond the trees to a part of the forest that no map would be able to mark. There in the forest beneath tangled roots and vines, was an ancient stone door carved into the hillside. Seeing all this, she still didn't get scared.

As the figure disappeared into the stone, the door creaked and then opened, revealing to her a glowing cavern beneath. She was drawn to the unknown, so she walked inside.

This was the last time, she was seen by anyone.

What was the secret hiding in the forest?

Source

The secret hiding in the forest was because the hut was a portal an entrance to a forgotten world buried beneath the loot of the forest. For many years, ancient people guarded the gateway, where time passed differently, and captures of shadow moved freely. What Nadeesha captured was the last figure of the guardians that is neither evil nor good but a sentinel keeping curious souls from stumbling into what was beyond.

Nadeesha didn't lose, but she changed and crossed into that part of the world

Some people came out to say on a misty morning, that if anyone looks (wanders) deep into the forest, they will hear the camera shutting and clicking. A bird feeding its chicks, a yawning leopard, and so on. Nadeesha passion, even at this point, is capturing the wild that can't be reached from a place. She is so bold of her movement in the forest knowing fully well that she was the only one in the forest.

I am inviting; @dove11, @lhorgic and @ruthjoe