Fake Picture

You know how a picture speaks a thousand words.

Well, I did another photoshoot session with my dear friends about a week ago. There we were on the tennis court under the hot sun practicing our post and smiles. T was behind the camera waiting patiently for it to end. 'Sorry T. This is how it goes when you take pictures of girls. Thanks for the favour though, really appreciate it.' We finally got into line and the photoshoot session officially begun.

'Formal'

'Candid'

'Smile'

'Fake laugh'

'Hug'

'This post'

'That post'

'Leg in front'

'Hands in the sky'

'Is it over?' NO! Poor T. We changed post and the shutter clicks on burst mode. This time we were throwing papers into the air. The next picture saw us walking to the end of the tennis court and throwing our paper while we were at it. Then stop! Turn our head. Perfect! And the photoshoot session ended.

After sharing the photos among us all, we move on to editing and posting the pictures on instagram.

I went through the pictures as I was laying lazy on my bed with my roommates, D and N. Scrolling through the pictures, deciding which one was the nicest to post. I finally decide the one I like and posted it. Then N said 'Notice how this picture holds too many stories in it?' I stared at the picture I posted. I didn't know what to say. Then I start to wonder.

That picture seems so fake to me. If I was a stranger and I was stalking my instagram account and looking at that picture with that simple caption, I would say 'cool group of friends. Hey, her friend's pretty. I wonder if her account is private.' That's the story that the picture is feeding to those strangers. But the people who are close to me and the ones who are in the picture? Only they know the real story behind that fake picture. And it is sad and frustrating for me to admit this. But sometimes, life doesn't go the way you want it to. You put in some effort to fix it but it still remains the same. No matter how many times you try, things just won't change.

Maybe Person A wants to fix what she did wrong with Person B but Person B doesn't want to. Or maybe Person C was hurt by Person D but Person D thought Person C was just tired of her old friend and found a new one, and so she let it be. Or Person E and Person F hate each other but they are best friends still. So many possibilities. So many what ifs. So many stories.

Well, hopefully, these stories would change over time. And maybe one day, we could take a new picture. Only this time, it's a real one.