30 Days Later. 11:11 PM. Salem, Oregon.
The room stretched again.
3 tables now.
The Authors - 6 chairs. Pen + Violin String on the table.
The Photographers - 4 shadows. Each holding a vintage camera. No flashes.
The Artists - 4 shadows. Sketchbooks and charcoal.
The Hunger floated between them.
_"Round 3. The Photographers vs The Authors.
Topic: Regret.
10 minutes.
Best image-story wins."_
The Photographers moved first.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
No flash. But the room got darker.
On their table: 4 photos appeared instantly.
Photo 1: A door never opened.
Photo 2: A call never made.
Photo 3: A "sorry" never said.
Photo 4: A person walking away.
Silent. Cold. Perfect.
Fritz: swallowing "Bro. Those are mine.
Those are MY regrets."
Umi: "They’re stealing from us."
Miri: "Then we steal back. But different."
Alex: "We don’t show regret. We show what we did after."
Timer: 10:00
Minute 1-3: The Pen hurts again
Umi grabbed the Pen of the Writers.
Pain. 4 photographers. All of them missed one shot.
One moment that would’ve changed everything.
Umi cried without sound.
Minute 4-7: They make their move
Umi writes: We regret things.
Fritz takes a photo: _Not of the door closed.
Of the door we kicked open after._
Miri sings: _Not of the call missed.
Of the 100 calls we made after._
Alex plays: _Not of the "sorry" we didn’t say.
Of the thousand "I’m here" we said instead._
Fritz laid the photo down.
It wasn’t sad. It was messy. Alive. Scars and all.
Minute 8-10: The Hunger judges
The Hunger walked the circle.
Looked at the 4 cold photos.
Looked at the 1 messy photo.
_"The Photographers showed me regret as a graveyard.
The Authors showed me regret as a workshop.
Where you build something after you break."_
The Hunger: "Winner: The Authors."
The Photographers’ table exploded into glass and film.
4 cameras clattered to the floor. Went dark.
A 3rd chair flew to The Authors.
7 chairs now.
On the seat: a camera lens. Cracked, but still seeing.
The Hunger: clapping slowly _"3 down. 1 to go.
Final Round next month.
The Artists.
Topic: Loss."_
The room shrank. 2 tables left.
Ours. And theirs.
After
Fritz: holding the lens "I can see... their regrets. In this."
Miri: "Stop. Don’t."
Umi: looking at the book:
_3 Chairs Won. 1 To Go.
Final Warning: When you take the last chair,
you take their story too.
You will remember their loss as your own._
Alex: "So we win... and we grieve for people we never met?"
Umi: "Looks like it."
Lila pointed at the empty space where the 3rd table was.
"Mom. There’s someone there."
No one else was there.