Morva House Fiction:"On The Tour"

What, you think you're just a tourist here? You think nothing can touch you because you've got the crappy shirt and the expensive camera, you think just because you're just watching, nothing is going to watch you back? 

 

What kind of strap have you got on the camera, anyway? Is it strong? Is it a chain? No, it's just a strip of plastic, just strong enough to stop the camera from falling to the pavement below when you lean out to look down on the street. One flick of blade and it would be gone. People are looking back, you see. Can't you see their eyes? No. Of course not.

Why don't you take a photo? Now look at the picture, what do you see? No, you don't see it because you're still standing in the same light in which you took the snap. You feel warm and safe. You've left your anxieties at home, at work, and here on the tour you gaze around but you never look.

Look what you've taken a picture of. Small people far away on the streets below, scurrying. Just the tops of their heads. You can't see their eyes. You're not there.

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"On The Tour" copyright Morva Shepley 2009
http://morvahouse.blogspot.com