Retrofocus
by Sumner
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Cool air crept through the cracked windows along the side of the otherwise sweltering classroom. Taylor’s head bobbed as the boredom of the new school year washed over him. Like the first few yards of an uphill bike ride, roll call for the first class of the year pained him.
Life came closest to true slow-motion on day one, he decided. Professor Whitley’s long Southern drawl only enhanced her trance-inducing recitation of the list: “…Foster, Garrison, Gellar…” Finally, the tension reached its maximum as the nearly comatose sophomore heard his name.
”Taylor Hanson.”
”Here,” he replied, mimicking the teacher’s monotone.
Within the seconds the muted giggles started.
It never fails, Taylor reminded himself. It had been his freshmen year at Baylar High School when the levee broke and the dark harbinger known as
Middle of Nowhere was released into record stores. At that moment, he ceased to be Taylor Hanson, Captain Normal, and became from that time forward, Taylor Hanson, the guy whose name elicits random humming of “MMMBop.” Henceforth, he was forever faced with a continual dread of any name-calling exercise. This time, it would be no different.
”Hey, like the chick in Hanson,” the tattooed slacker behind him piped up.
”He’s not a chick!” a sweet-faced girl behind him answered defensively.
”Looks like we have a fan,” he said. The predictable chuckles followed. “Dude,” he called to Taylor, “your name really Taylor Hanson?”
”No, I specially requested it so that everyone who meets me would comment on it.”
The routine played out as usual, with Taylor having experienced no shortage of practice. The laughs usually died down once the novelty wore off.
Finally, class officially began.
No more fresh Hanson jokes for the next hour, Taylor thought, relieved. Maybe the Intro to Psychology elective would shed some light on the public’s ongoing fascination with gimmicky young pop bands – not to mention Taylor’s strange, irrepressible urge to keep informed on the status of the middle Hanson brother, as if the shared name required him to stay abreast of the latest Access Hollywood rumors. Perhaps they were linked by some mystical, Jungian connection.
Eh, probably not, Taylor reassured himself. The situation was too stupid to be synchronicity.
Professor Whitley launched into the opening lecture with little aplomb. Acclimated to more advanced courses, she fumbled her words when it came to explaining the fundamentals (intro classes – the basement of the Ivory Tower). Yawns soon broke out. Pencil tapping commenced. The clock itself fell asleep. Students would have to wait another four months before Professor Whitley even touched on the “fun stuff,” namely abnormal psychology. Sadly, serial killers and sex perverts would have to wait. But with only ten minutes remaining in class, she did finally break away from the textbook and start into a topic of marginal interest.
“When we talk about psychology, we’re talking about more than cold hard facts. This is about the complexity of beliefs and emotions,” she said. “We have to look at how people perceive life. You and I have certain preconceptions. You likely have a natural trust of photography as a medium, for instance. But did you know some Native Americans believed the simple act of taking a picture could steal someone’s soul?”
Taylor drifted off once again. He had heard all this before, being an aspiring photographer himself. In fact, he was currently awaiting a package from Europe – a new brand of camera enthusiasts were touting as revolutionary.
Swapgeschaeft was the name. Taylor bought it on a whim online with some extra cash he’d earned working at Horizon Video.
”I’ll see every on Wednesday. Please read chapter one before then,” Professor Whitley said, dismissing class.
In the hallway, Taylor felt a tapping on his shoulder.
”Hey, stranger,” Sydney said in a bad southern accent. “How was psychology?”
”All right,” Taylor answered, “but no unraveling of the mystery of life really.”
”Biology didn’t either. The professor is a real fossil – something tells me he’s not up on the latest research,” Sydney said as she grabbed Taylor’s right hand, a habit she had acquired in high school. “Want to get some lunch?”
”Sure, but I’ve got to go home first.”
”What for?”
”A book for an English Lit class later …”
”Night class?”
”Yeah, I’ve got one too.”
With that, the couple walked and chatted the four blocks to Taylor’s house – an activity that always prompted the requisite rant.
”It sucks living with my parents. I mean, college is about getting away, doing your own thing, getting …”
”…drunk,” Sydney continued his sentence with a grin. “It isn’t that bad. You save on gas, you know. Plus I think your parents are kind of cool.”
”Cool how?”
”Well, they don’t really order you around, do they?”
”No, but—“
”And it’s only your sophomore year. There’s still time to get out or move into a dorm if you want to,” Sydney said. “And dorm life is no utopia either, unless you’re a jock or insane.”
”Well, home life might drive me insane. Especially right now.”
”Why?”
”We’re keeping my little cousin Kevin.”
”A nightmare?”
”Worse. He’s six and apparently eats nothing but Cocoa Puffs and crack.”
”Aww, I’ll bet he’s cute.”
”This shouldn’t take long. I just need to pick up the book and we’ll be out of here,” Taylor said, turning into his family’s driveway.
Inside, they discovered Laura, Taylor’s sister, already home from school. “Hey guys,” she chimed from dining room.
”Hi Laura. How’s it going? What are you working on there?” Sydney asked, pointing to an opened box full of Styrofoam peanuts on the table.
”Well, I got home from school and it was just sitting on the front porch – didn’t have a name on it or anything,” she replied, fiddling with a black box of some kind. Laura was a curious teenager, a high school junior with a 4.0 GPA and an early bloomer, who rarely took no for an answer. That came in handy, as she had a habit of making the first move in the guy department. Bobby Meyers was her current obsession and, as one of her many teen magazine’s advised, she had already drawn up a list of lines she would use to capture her prey.
As Taylor searched for
The Art of Language, Laura made chit-chat with the budding sixteen-year-old.
”I haven’t seen you in a while,” Sydney said. “You look different.”
”Yeah, I dyed my hair last week. Think it looks weird?” Laura asked, still examining her new toy.
”No, not at all. I think it makes you look grown up,” Sydney said, noticing how impressively puberty had worked its magic on Laura in the last few months. Her boobs had noticeably sprouted into eye-catching accessories, something she didn’t seem shy about flaunting. “Didn’t you just have a birthday?”
”Yep. Sixteen. Same day as Cassenia’s. I
finally get to drive. All my friends already have cars. All I have to do is take the test.”
”Oh, how old is Cassenia now? I always forget.”
”She’s ten… but thinks she’s thirty,” Laura said with a sigh.
Seconds later, Taylor rounded the corner into the dining room. “Hey, has anybody seen—“ He stopped. “Laura, where did you get that?”
”It came in the mail today, I think,” she said, pulling the box out of her lap.
”That looks like my—“
Without warning, a flash suddenly filled the room. Taylor and Sydney were left blinking. Laura seemed surprised, but quickly realized what she had done. The boxy object was no doubt a camera, though it almost looked old-fashioned compared to a modern digital one.
”That’s the new camera I ordered online. Be careful,” Taylor said, rubbing his eyes.
Almost instantaneously, the camera started spitting out a print. Taylor snatched the camera, but not before Laura pulled the picture.
”Is it a Polaroid?” she asked.
”Something like that,” Taylor answered, still seeing little flashbulbs in front of him. “It’s a model from Germany… supposed to use some new process.”
”Well, congratulations. I think it works,” Laura said, jumping up from her chair and bouncing into the next room. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go…”
”Where?” Taylor asked.
”The bathroom, silly. Where did you think? Vegas?”
Placing the camera back on the table, Taylor seemed distracted. He hoped Laura hadn’t done any damage before she snapped the shot. After all, it cost him a pretty penny, even on eBay. The flash nearly gave him a headache.
”What is it, Tay?”
”Nothing. Just hope she didn’t screw up anything when she was messing with it.”
”I’m sure it’s OK,” Sydney reassured him. “When is your next class?”
Taylor went to check his watch. “What the—“
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When Laura reached the bathroom, she remembered the picture in her hand and set it on the counter. Most of it had the brownish color of an unused Polaroid, but she could make out a few lines appearing, though nothing fantastic.
I wonder what’s so special about it, Laura thought, staring at the rather unremarkable print.
After heeding nature’s call, she began the required practice of any sixteen year old girl - the mirror check. She ran her hands through her thick darkened hair and surveyed her face for any unwelcome bumps or potential zits. Next came the cleavage assessment. As the inspection went on, she nearly forgot about the photo laying next to the sink. But it caught her attention just before she opened the door. Holding it up to the light, Laura could see the outline of Taylor and Sydney and the doorway behind them, yet something seemed strange, or rather, off-kilter
Confused, she waited a bit longer. As the shapes slowly emerged and the colors appeared, Laura found herself staring at two people resembling her brother and his girlfriend, but at the same time… not. Intrigued, she continued to wait – all the while gazing at the odd photograph.
Gradually, the entire image took shape and Laura could hardly believe her eyes. Everything – the walls, the doorway, the window in the background – all looked completely normal. But in Taylor and Sydney’s place stood two kids, no more than ten years old, wearing the same clothes. The faces were clearly theirs as well, only much younger.
”This has got to be a joke,” she mumbled under her breath.
Puzzled, Laura unlocked the bathroom door and headed into the dining room.
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”Guys, you are not going to believe—“ Laura lost her breath midsentence. She heard Taylor and Sydney’s talking in the living room, but their voices were not those of college students. Quickly rounding the corner, she was greeted with a bizarre sight.
”Taylor? Sydney??”
The two children stopped arguing and looked up.
”What happened to you?”
With a blouse draped over her and pants puddle at her feet, Sydney was on the verge of tears. Taylor wore a look of utter shock as he craned his head to look at his little sister.
”I don’t know what happened,” he moaned, his voice now a shaky soprano. “One minute we were fine and now this!” He flapped his wing-like sleeves. “We’re young again!”
”Oh my God!” Laura yelped. “Are you both all right?”
”I think so,” Taylor said, looking down at his pint-sized self. “I think it stopped.”
”No, no, no, no!” Sydney sobbed, her body now that of an unusually baby-faced third-grader. With her cheeks swelled and pink, her chest now as flat as Taylor’s, and a set of new buck teeth, she was indistinguishable from any average nine-year-old.
”We’re little kids!” she screamed. “This is insane. How can this happen?”
”The picture!” Laura suddenly interjected.
”What?”
”I went into the bathroom with the picture I accidentally took of you guys and when it developed, you were both little again!” Laura said, handing the photo to Taylor. Indeed, there they were, only minutes before in the dining room, looking like everyday elementary school kids – his thin goatie gone, body shrunk, and a bubbly childlike grin on her face.
”This doesn’t make any sense at all,” Taylor said, incredulous. “Cameras can’t make people younger! This is crazy!”
”What are we going to do?” Sydney whined, observing how her head barely came to Laura’s breasts. She did not appreciate the new view one bit. “This can’t be permanent! Taylor, please say you can fix this.”
”I don’t know… maybe the camera can make us older again too,” he said.
”The camera!” Sydney exclaimed. “Where—“
”Say cheese!” a young voice chirped. Laura spun around just in time to see Cassenia holding the camera.
”No, don’t!” Laura shrieked.
The familiar disorienting flash again filled the room.
Laura wasted no time snatching the camera from a baffled Cassenia, who had just gotten her first peek at the two kids dressed in baggy clothing.
”Hey, who are they?” she asked.
Laura’s heart raced as the print emerged from the camera. She hastily plucked it out and stared at the brown square. The last picture took nearly five minutes to develop, but Laura could already feel the changes creeping over her.
”Are we in the picture??” Sydney could be heard yelling in the background.
”What’s happening?” Cassenia said, bewildered. “Taylor, is that you?”
Taylor nodded. “The camera, Cassenia. It made us younger somehow and now—Laura, are you OK?”
”I don’t know… the picture, it hasn’t developed yet. Come on!” she said, shaking the print. “Come on!”
But Laura already looked different. With her dress bunching up and shoes becoming spacious by the second, the panicky teenager realized she too was growing younger. Sydney watched as the oldest of the group only moments ago started to tumble back down through the years. First to go were her new prominent breasts. She gazed in horror as her cleavage disappeared back into her top. Next her pants began to sag, looking more like pajamas now. Cassenia watched as her sister grew steadily downward, losing her curves while simultaneously regaining her more pudgy middle school features.
”Make it stop!” she cried. “Taylor, please make it stop!”
”I don’t know what to do!”
In the chaos, Taylor failed to notice his own situation. Sydney seemed to growing taller and taller and he could feel his arms and legs shrinking fast.
”Oh no, this can’t be happening,” he said, his sleeves inching further toward the ground.
”Taylor!” Syndey screamed. “You’re getting littler!”
A closer glimpse at the picture revealed an eight-year-old Laura, stripped completely of the handiwork of adolescence. Behind her was an even younger Taylor, no older than a first grader. The angle had not captured Sydney, who was standing just beside the living room doorway.
By this time, Laura was left an eleven-year-old at most. Tears flowed down her blushing cheeks as she found herself eye to eye with her little sister. Her watch fell to the floor with a tiny thump, along with her pants and panties; the silky lavender top now covered all that needed covering. As the final image appeared, Laura’s body had officially returned to the second grade, with no trace of sweet sixteen remaining. She and Sydney were now about the same age and poor Taylor had been reduced to a cute five-year-old. Cassenia, at ten, was now the eldest in the room – something she was not prepared for in the least.
”What did I do?” she asked sheepishly.
Laura’s eyes remained fixed on the picture – a short, almost dumpy image of herself.
”I don’t want to be a little girl!” she whimpered.
”Hey,
I’m not little,” Cassenia answered indignantly.
”Yes, you are,” Laura answered. “You’re a kid, a baby.”
”I am not. I’m in the fourth grade!” came the resentful reply. “Besides, you’re littler than me now… so I’m the oldest. That makes you a baby too.”
Meanwhile, Sydney tried to console a much smaller Taylor, now only half as tall as her. His shirt had all but engulfed him – a sight that seemed out of some strange sci-fi movie. Gone were the piercing eyes and facial hair and in their place the gentle, muted face of a young boy. He wanted desperately to say something, but dreaded hearing how young his vocal chords had become. The living room now seemed like an auditorium and Cassenia almost gave the impression of an adult.
Had the camera really done all this? An awkward, unvoiced confusion set in.
Taylor worked hard to collect himself. A camera had just turned three people into kids, but was there a pattern? Obviously, every time someone had his picture taken, he got younger. Taylor ran the numbers through his head and concluded that each picture had taken about half the years off of its subject. Doing the math, he calculated that the first picture left him a ten-year-old and the second roughly five. Likewise, Sydney saw half of her eighteen years erased, making her nine years old. And now the same story with Laura too.
”Laura, could you hand me the camera,” he said, embarrassed by his girly voice.
Still in shock, Laura hesitated and Cassenia seized the moment by yanking the device away from her new little sister.
”Cassenia, what are you doing? Give that to me,” Taylor ordered, instinctively moving to retrieve it, in turn causing him to take a tumble onto the carpet.
”No, it’s mine,” Cassenia giggled, seeing her big brother downgraded to a kindergartner in a mountain of his own clothes.
”What are you talking about?”
”I wanna play with it,” she said, dangling the camera above her sister’s head. Laura reached up to grab it, but Cassenia pulled it back just as quickly.
”This isn’t fair! Give it back!” Laura pouted as her now superfluous bra slid further down her front. She grew even redder.
”It’s not a toy, Cassenia. It’s very dangerous. Now, please just set it down,” Taylor instructed as he struggled to navigate his way out of the oversized clothing. His commands sounded more and more thin and pathetic as he became increasingly frustrated. He doubted even he could take himself seriously at this age.
”Too bad,” Cassenia snorted. “Mommy and Daddy are gonna come home and put you back in preschool anyways! Then I’ll be the big sister.”
”Cassenia, I’m warning you. Don’t do anything rash, OK?”
Suddenly, Sydney broke out of her stupor and ran to tackle Cassenia, who was caught off guard. The move sent the camera flying to the floor with a thud.
”Quick, Laura! Get it!” she yelled.
”No! You’ll break it!” Taylor said as loudly as his lungs would allow him.
As Sydney and Cassenia squirmed on the hardwood floors in the dining room, Laura shuffled to rescue the camera, only to find that her tent-like clothing weighed her down as well. Kicking off her shoes, she slid past the doorway and stretched to reach the troublemaking gadget, but not before Cassenia managed to push it further away. Sydney was surprised how strong Taylor’s little sister was – or rather, how weak she had become. The two wrestled for what seemed like ages before Laura finally snagged the camera’s strap.
”I got it!” she said, triumphantly grabbing the apparatus. No later had she uttered those words, the camera triggered a third time, sending another flash of blinding white light into the dining room.
As if on cue, the fighting stopped that instant.
”Laura, quick,” Sydney said, “which way was that thing pointed?”