Michael Davis was a simple college student majoring in photography, and tended to be a jack of all trades when it came to his photo topics. He could be a fashion photographer one second, a nature photographer the next. One day he was hiking on a day off, trying to get some good shots for an upcoming project. He took his time getting as many good shots as he could, but none of them stood out to him no matter what techniques he used. It was around sunset when Michael reached the top of the hill he was climbing. He was absolutely amazed at the vivid orange and seemingly endless hues of violet mixing together. It would be the perfect shot for his project. He kept walking forward in an attempt to get an even better shot, only to realize the hill drops off really steeply so that it was a literal cliff. Not only that, the hill must have been higher than he thought based on the drop. Michael approached the ledge but made sure to stay at least a foot away before putting his eye to the viewfinder. The picture came out nice. I could have come out better though. Michael took one step closer to the ledge, not bothering to look out of the viewfinder. It still isn’t prefect though. If he just got a little bit closer…
And then Michael fell.
For him it felt like an eternity of darkness, but it was only a couple of days. Michael woke up in a serene part of the forest on the outskirts of town near a creek. The first thing he did when he realized he had his camera on him was verify that it still works, and to his great relief it still did. Then he set off back to town; It wouldn’t be too difficult to find it because the forest was fairly small and easy to get out of. There were several things he failed to notice though, like his missing finger or the smell of rotting following him.
The first thing her did when he reached town was to go to his college campus. He figured he must have only blacked out for a few hours and that his friends were starting to get worried. Michael didn’t realize that his friends were far beyond worried now. They posted missing person posters everywhere, but no one would have figured he’d been in the forest all this time. When he couldn’t find his friends in their dorms he immediately checked in the café on campus, which was exactly where he found them. He was about to approach them when he saw his long-time crush Emma sitting near him, looking like she smells something foul around her. Ever since he saw her he thought she would make the perfect model, and he got this sudden burst of confidence to ask her about it. Immediately he went over to her and asked her about being his model for a shot. She looked like she saw a ghost, then went back to looking disgusted and said no. Michael got more pushy and Emma was started to get freaked out and ran away. Michael decided that maybe she just needed to see how beautiful she was.
When she was looked Michael took a picture of Emma. He snuck into her room and left the picture and a note. When Emma entered her room and was horrified to find the note and picture. Immediately she went to her friend and her friend suggested calling the cops. Emma decided she’d call the cops tomorrow, as her phone was dead. An awful emotion came over Michael at this, blinding rage. He decided he’ll have his model, whether she liked it or not. In the dead of night when Emma was sleeping Michael snuck into her room to take photos. She was moving too much though due to the nightmares she was having about stalkers. Michael didn’t want her to move. At all.
Quietly Michael took a pillow out from under Emma and smothered her. He didn’t want blood, that would ruin her beauty. Once she stopped breathing Michael took several photos. They all seemed perfect to him. He was wrong before; The sunset wasn’t the perfect shot, she was. Emma lying completely still forever was the perfect shot. Michael decided that her roommates would surely like to have one of the photos and left one on her mirror frame. After that he left, with a bag still with plenty of space left for more photos, ready to find his next model to photograph.