بگو سیب و بمیر فصل 4

Say Cheese and Die! - Chapter 4

For a long moment, Greg just stared at the camera.

Something told him the camera was hidden away for a reason.

Something told him he shouldn’t touch it. He should close the secret door and walk away.

But he couldn’t resist it.

He reached onto the hidden shelf and took the camera in his hands.

It pulled out easily. Then, to Greg’s surprise, the door instantly snapped shut with a loud bang.

Weird, he thought, turning the camera in his hands.

What a strange place to leave a camera. Why would someone put it here? If it were valuable enough to hide in a secret cabinet, why didn’t he take it with him?

Greg eagerly examined the camera. It was large and surprisingly heavy, with a long lens. Perhaps it’s a telephoto lens, he thought.

Greg was very interested in cameras. He had an inexpensive automatic camera, which took okay snapshots. But he was saving his allowance in hopes of buying a really good camera with a lot of lenses.

He loved looking at camera magazines, studying the different models, picking out the ones he wanted to buy.

Sometimes he daydreamed about traveling around the world, going to amazing places, mountaintops and hidden jungle rivers. He’d take photos of everything he saw and become a famous photographer.

His camera at home was just too crummy. That’s why all his pictures came out too dark or too light, and everyone in them had glowing red dots in their eyes.

Greg wondered if this camera was any good.

Raising the viewfinder to his eye, he sighted around the room. He came to a stop on Michael, who was wearing two bright yellow feather boas and a white Stetson hat and had climbed to the top of the steps to pose.

“Wait! Hold it!” Greg cried, moving closer, raising the camera to his eye. “Let me take your picture, Michael.”

“Where’d you find that?” Bird asked.

“Does that thing have film in it?” Michael demanded.

“I don’t know,” Greg said. “Let’s see.”

Leaning against the railing, Michael struck what he considered a sophisticated pose.

Greg pointed the camera up and focused carefully. It took a short while for his finger to locate the shutter button. “Okay, ready? Say cheese.”

“Cheddar,” Michael said, grinning down at Greg as he held his pose against the railing.

“Very funny. Michael’s a riot,” Bird said sarcastically.

Greg centered Michael in the viewfinder frame, then pressed the shutter button.

The camera clicked and flashed.

Then it made an electronic whirring sound. A slot pulled open on the bottom, and a cardboard square slid out.

“Hey—it’s one of those automatic-developing cameras,” Greg exclaimed. He pulled the square of cardboard out and examined it. “Look—the picture is starting to develop.”

“Let me see,” Michael called down, leaning on the railing.

But before he could start down the stairs, everyone heard a loud crunching sound.

They all looked up to the source of the sound—and saw the railing break away and Michael go sailing over the edge.

“Noooooo!” Michael screamed as he toppled to the floor, arms outstretched, the feather boas flying behind him like animal tails.

He turned in the air, then hit the concrete hard on his back, his eyes frozen wide in astonishment and fright.

He bounced once.

Then cried out again: “My ankle! Owwww! My ankle!” He grabbed at the injured ankle, then quickly let go with a loud gasp. It hurt too much to touch it.

“ Ohhh —my ankle!”

Still holding the camera and the photo, Greg rushed to Michael. Shari and Bird did the same.

“We’ll go get help,” Shari told Michael, who was still on his back, groaning in pain.

But then they heard the ceiling creak.

Footsteps. Above them.

Someone was in the house.

Someone was approaching the basement stairs.

They were going to be caught.