Capturing the Shot - SecretSanta for @randomguy

[deere]

Hi randomguy- I've enjoyed your writings in the past, and it was an honor to write for you.  Hope you like it!

 

“Sorry babe- I told you I didn’t have many choices in this area,” Matt said apologetically as he pulled into the parking lot of the run-down motel.  “This was the only place I could find anywhere near here.”  A single line of rooms with doors straight out onto a weedy parking lot, the Blue Belle Motel looked it’s age- and hadn’t aged gracefully.  There were only three cars parked in front of the dozen or so rooms.

“You win some,” Alysha said, gesturing at the dash of their rental SUV; “you lose some,” she finished, with a wave out the windshield.  “I’m sure it’ll be fine for just the two nights.”

Matt parked the brand-new Escalade in in front of the the door marked “Office”, and climbed out.  The shiny white Cadillac had been an unexpected bonus- the only four-wheel drive vehicle Enterprise had available when they arrived at the counter, owing to some sort of inventory mix-up.  Brand new- not even 100 miles on the odometer- and given to them for the “midsize SUV” rate Matt had reserved.

He returned to the truck a few minutes later with the key- still a metal key on a teal plastic tag, here at the Blue Belle- and shortly after they were carrying their bags into Room 8.  It was dated and worn looking inside, but seemed clean and they agreed it was more than adequate as a place to sleep for a couple nights.

While Matt made one last trip out to the Escalade for his camera bag, Alysha went to turn up the heat in the room.  The heater was a through-the-wall unit under the window and the controls on top hidden under a little flap, and so she was standing right in front of the vent when the blower kicked on, sending a cloud of dust into her face.

hep-Choo  hep—choo     heh-heh-h’Chooo

“Bless you, babe!” Matt said, walking back in.  “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Alysha said.  “I just got a faceful of…”  hep-CHoo “…of dust from the…” hehh “…the heater when I turned it…on.” hep-Choo  hep-choo

They’d bought a six-pack of beer on the way, and Alysha opened two while Matt unpacked his camera bag to clean, check, and repack all his equipment.  She’d long since learned to leave him to his borderline-obsessive fiddling with gear; when he was working, he couldn’t relax until he’d gone through it one last time.

Six sneezes later, muttering something unprintable under her breath, Alysha got up and dug her allergy medicine out of her bag.  When she got back from the bathroom, Matt was zipping up his camera bag.  They drank their beers, and turned in for the night.  It had been a long day of travel, and was going to be an early morning the next day.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The alarm went off hours before sunrise, and they quickly dressed and grabbed the daypacks they’d packed the night before.

Minutes later, the Cadillac was rolling through the darkness, Alysha at the wheel.  Matt was playing with the bells and whistles in the car- far more luxurious than his Chevy or her Toyota.  He found the control for the seat heaters, which felt nice in the pre-dawn chill, and then started exploring the XM radio channels.

“Oh- look,” he said.  “There’s a Pearl Jam station.”  He turned up the volume, then looked over at Alysha- expecting to see her smile because he’d found one of her favorite bands, then confused by the expression on her face.  Then he realized what it was.

hep-choo  heh—hep’CHoo

“Bless you, babe!” Matt said.  “Do you need a tissue?”

“No, but maybe…” hep-CHoo “you’d better” heh “take over” hehh  heh “the…” hep-CHOO he’CheW “driving!” Alysha said, signaling right and slowing down on the empty highway.  “I was so excited by the idea of” … “of driving this thing that” hepChoo hehshciew “I forgot I hadn’t had my” heSHiew “my morning sneezing fit yet.”

Matt reached over and squeezed her knee.  “You can drive back, then,” he said.  He hadn’t thought about it, either, but Alysha started each day off with a bout of sneezing, and neither of them had considered that by getting such a quick and early start, there hadn’t been time for her nose to fully wake up before leaving the motel.

Matt drove them up into the mountains, on smaller and smaller roads, eventually leaving the pavement and following a dirt road that was little more than a track.  He was glad Enterprise had been able to find him something with four-wheel drive- he hadn’t known whether he’d need it when he made the reservation, but a sedan would’ve been stuck by now. Years of being a professional photographer had taught him to be prepared for almost anything, and while this enormous and ridiculous car would stand out like a sore thumb in many places he’d been, appearances don’t matter in the woods.  Ground clearance does, and this had plenty.

Following the directions he’d been given by a trusted local, Matt parked in a small pulloff, and they hiked up a narrow footpath by headlamp.  A mile or so in, exactly as promised, was the meadow of wildflowers they were hear to photograph.  For a variety of reasons Matt had only halfway understood- he’d gotten as far as that it had to do with rain last summer and snow over the winter before he got lost- this week represented the best bloom of these flowers in years.  Decades, maybe.

Matt cast an expert eye around the field and decided where he wanted to set his equipment up, knowing how the light would land on the flowers and what he wanted in the backgrounds of his shots.

Alysha sniffed and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand.  As Matt set up a tripod, she set her pack down and looked around, noting the horizon just beginning to get light the east.

“Thanks for bringing me along on this one, babe,” she said.  “I love getting to watch you work- especially when it’s in…” heh  “in such a beautiful spot.” hep-ChOO   he’choo  Alysha reached down to the daypack at her feet, and unzipped the front pouch, feeling through it’s contents, then again a little more urgently.  Not finding what she sought, she unzipped the main pouch and repeated the process.

“Shoot!”  Alysha rifled through her bag again, almost frantically now, but knowing the futility.  “I left my allergy pills back at the…” hxtch “the room.” HtCHxCHHh—hep’CHoo

Matt looked at the field of wildflowers he’d traveled halfway across the country to photograph, and at the brightening sky to the east that would give him perfect light for these shots over the next few hours; then he looked back at his wife, knowing how bad her flower allergies sometimes were.

“Do we need to go back, hon?”

“No, I’ll be…” hCHxx-hxTch  “I’ll be fine.  Are you crazy?  If we go back you’ll miss your sunrise.”

Matt knew she was right- his boss had flown him out here, all expenses paid, for the express purpose of taking pictures of these flowers, in this meadow, at sunrise.  Further, Matt knew that she’d made up her mind- he decided not to argue the point any longer.  He also knew she didn’t usually stifle her sneezes- and that when she did, it usually just made it worse in the long run.  He hoped these flowers wouldn’t bother her too badly.

He finished setting up his gear, a couple different camera and lens combinations on tripods, arranged so he could quickly and easily move between them.  Alysha sat on the ground beside him, chatting while they waited for the sun to come up.  Matt took a few pictures as the light began to increase, and Alysha sneezed from time to time.  As the sky grew lighter, Matt took more and more pictures and eventually Alysha realized he had stopped paying any attention to her and stopped talking.  She didn’t stop sneezing, though.

heh—hehhhh—hep’CHoo  heh’shoo HASHOoOha’c’chew   

As the sun popped over the mountains, Matt snapped the shutter over and over, switching between cameras and moving the tripods around to capture the ever-changing sunlight dance across the meadow of brightly colored wildflowers.  After over a decade as a professional photographer, he never tired of these beautiful scenes, still couldn’t believe somebody was paying him to be here.

Suddenly he felt Alysha tap his shoulder.  He wasn’t annoyed, exactly, that she’d interrupted him, but his concentration was broken just at the moment the light was at it’s peak.  These few minutes were what would make or break the whole trip, and he’d been in the zone.  He turned to look at her and saw her pointing off to his left, almost behind him.  A red fox was standing in the meadow of flowers, staring at them.

Spinning around as quickly and quietly as he could with the longer-lensed camera, Matt started snapping pictures even before the tripod was back on the ground.  This was gold.  hn’chtx   hnCHxx  Matt knew his wife had to sneeze, and that she was trying as hard as she could to be quiet.  He hoped she’d succeed.

h’tCHxx h’n’TcHx  hn’Chxx—Choo  HESHOO  he’CHeww  heSHieww  h—heh—h’CHOO’x’choo   hep-choo

Matt kept shooting, watching the fox through the viewfinder as it heard the sneezes, turning to see what the noise was.

hep-CHoo  heh—h’ hehshciew    heshiew

The fox turned and ran, Matt continuing to snap the shutter as it darted out of sight.

hep-Choo hep’KChoo “Sorry, I…” heh’chiew “I didn’t mean to…” heh “I didn’t mean to sca…”  heh—h’choo  heChew “I didn’t mean to scare him off!”  heh—hep’choo  hekshiew

Matt felt terrible- he’d never seen Alysha have such a bad allergy attack, and he’d witnessed more than a few in the years they’d been together.  And he knew she felt terrible for sneezing when the fox was there.  He’d taken a lot of pictures, and was pretty sure he’d gotten several really outstanding ones.  Like “cover of National Geographic” good, if he was lucky.

Matt stepped toward his wife, looking at the sky.  The sun was well above the horizon now, and the faint misty fog had burned off.  He’d like to stay a bit longer, keep taking pictures as the sun moved across the sky.  She was still sneezing as he put his hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, baby,” he said, trying to look her in the eyes; failing because she kept sneezing.  Realizing the futility of that, he wrapped his arms tightly around her, feeling her breathing, realizing she was crying too.  “Really, babe- it’s okay.  I took some of the best pictures of my life this morning.”

“Really?” heh’shoo “I’m still sorry,” she said, “but now I want to” heh’choo “to see them!”

He unsnapped a camera from the tripod and put it back in the bag.  “OK, Sneezy,” he said.  “Let’s get you back to the hotel.  We can look at them on my laptop.  After we get you an allergy pill!”

Alysha was still sneezing as they walked back to the car.

[randomguy]

Awwwwww! This was such a sweet story! 😊 I love these two characters and their relationship. You really get the sense of them as partners! And I love your choices for sneezing scenarios.

5 hours ago, deere said:

He wasn’t annoyed, exactly, that she’d interrupted him, but his concentration was broken just at the moment the light was at it’s peak.  These few minutes were what would make or break the whole trip, and he’d been in the zone. He turned to look at her and saw her pointing off to his left, almost behind him.  A red fox was standing in the meadow of flowers, staring at them.

I love this detail. You did a really great job of setting up the expectation that Alysha was going to be a distraction in some way, then it turned out she knows actually knows what Matt needs better than even he does. Very revealing of what they're like together!

 

5 hours ago, deere said:

“I just got a faceful of…”  hep-CHoo “…of dust from the…” hehh “…the heater when I turned it…on.” hep-Choo  hep-choo

Oh man, I love talking while sneezing. Great work here.

 

5 hours ago, deere said:

“I forgot I hadn’t had my” heSHiew “my morning sneezing fit yet.”

Just the idea that she has a routine of having a sneezing fit every morning? That's gold.

 

5 hours ago, deere said:

hep-Choo hep’KChoo “Sorry, I…” heh’chiew “I didn’t mean to…” heh “I didn’t mean to sca…”  heh—h’choo  heChew “I didn’t mean to scare him off!”  heh—hep’choo  hekshiew

And this fit right here? That was the perfect way to end. Thanks so much for an awesome story! You made my first year of Secret Santa a great experience!

[deere]

Glad you liked it!