Mallory (Denver): “The Perfect Shot”
Mallory Listen to Podcast
Littleton, Colorado, USA
The Perfect Shot?
This unimaginable beauty surrounds me, not only the breathtaking scenery, but the rich character of my friends. I inhale, savoring the fresh, mountainous air. It is as if I have just emerged from a smoke filled room. This is my sanctuary, my home. The dirt and mixture of pebbles, wood and pine-needles crack softly beneath my determined feet as I continue on this endless trail. I look ahead and track in the oversized footprints my cousin leaves in the dusty dirt. He is the leader of us all, so bold and admirable. Now, my mind is not consumed with unimportant affairs, yet anticipating the trip ahead. I stop for a second, peering through a break in the thick forest. My eyes soak up the jagged cliffs and the tops of the trees, artistically cutting into the sky. It reigns over everything with its array of colors. The clouds are perfectly placed, giving balance to this scene. I am amazed.
When we arrive, my first action is to un-strap my backpack which seemingly weighs as much as a lead anvil. Then I skip over to where my friend, Suzanne is resting on an old, slowly-deteriorating tree trunk. Its masculine branches are jutting out of the old, chipping bark. When you examine this tree, you can see the tiny bugs crawling through the fine cracks in the bark. They are making it their new home, or maybe just a new path to collect the crumbs we leave behind. Suzanne’s long, dark brown, now curly, hair blankets her face as she reaches in her bag for her cell phone.
“Hey, how’s the hike up?” I asked her.
“Good. I’m glad to finally be here. I just love it up here, you know? It’s so… nice.”
“Yeah. Just getting away from everything…”
“Ahh!” She cries in frustration. “I don’t have any service up here!”
“I figured that, I didn’t even bring mine.” I replied.
“Well, I thought maybe…”
“Yeah” I lightheartedly say.
We stare into the fire as my cousin, Mat, feeds it with more wood. Its raging flames dance across the night’s sky and mesmerize all on-lookers. The smell of smoke fills my lungs and burns my dried out eyes. I squint and eventually close them, then enjoy the much needed moisture. More of my friends slowly trickle in the secluded area, one by one setting up tents and gathering around the campfire.
The temperature is decreacing, which calls for an early night. Suzanne and I drift away from the group and walk 300 meters away to the “big boulder”. It towers over us in its glory. We walk around back to climb up the easy way. Once on top, we ease onto the cold surface. It feels like ice, shocking our backs and legs. I look up into the vast sky; my eyes meet the most incomprehensible sight. Millions upon millions of stars sprinkled over a blanket of darkness. Each one is perfectly placed, with contrast to the lesser or more bright ones. The stress of school, and the expectations others have of me now fade away like a dim star in the sky. All of my problems disappear and I can now, for the first time, think clearly. There is something in raw nature that helps you realize what really matters. Then I close my eyes and savor every second.
As the night goes on, we talk for hours then head back to our tent. Sleep comes easily and soon it is morning again. Rested, I awake to banging pots and the soft voices of my friends. I inhale and ease my eyes open, feeling new and refreshed. As I adjust to the day, I begin filling a backpack with ropes, a sweatshirt, my camera, and other miscellaneous items for bouldering. Our adventure begins and we hike up to the area we will be conquering. We squeeze between colossal rocks impeding our path. Leaping and scaling over these rocks bring life to my stagnant soul.
Countless hours pass and we are on our way back down when something catches my eye. I am between half a dozen huge boulders, surrounding me and closing off the sunlight like a room. I passed through this area on the way up, but it was not the same then. In one section, the sun shines through a gap and illuminates a ladybug resting upon on a single leaf. I think it is an amazing sight. My friends pass by as I move a bit to the left to obtain the perfect angle. I take out my camera and capture the beauty in its unrefined state. Every aspect of the photograph is flawless. I continue on and soon we return to our camp.
My fist action back is to show Suzanne my shot. I run over to her with prideful posture and a grin that overwhelms my face.
“Hey! Look at this shot I took!”
“Uh, cool… It’s a ladybug right?”
My heart sunk a bit.
“Yeah! It is, but don’t you see it? Don’t you see how the light illuminates the tiny bug? Can’t you see how it makes the ladybug the center of it all? It’s just a little bug, that nobody cares about, but in this shot, it’s alone, yet beautiful. Without it this picture would be….”
My sentence trails off, like explaining calculus to a kindergartener. Suzanne tried to care and understand what I saw in it, but she could not.
Then next morning, we hiked out of the calming mountains, and entered back into reality. The drive home was quiet, kids crammed in corners of the car hopelessly catching up on their missed sleep from the previous night. The scent of dirty, polluted air fills my lungs as I sit next to the window. I have twenty shots left on my camera, and decide to use them up on this long ride back. I capture signs, buildings, gas stations, and the occasional bike rider. I pause for a minute and notice the hum of the engine. This incessant, maddening drone overpowers and ultimately kills the soft music. Just like what Littleton has done to beauty. Everywhere I look; there is a new building going up; another unneeded shopping mall being built. Bit by bit, they are taking away my love; nature.
I arrive back home, saddened and overwhelmed by reality. The second I walk inside, I am greeted with my fathers yelling. I endure what seems like an eternity of words being thrown at me until his complaints run dry. I apologize again and escape upstairs to my room. I throw my backpack on the littered floor and plunge into the sea of covers on my bed. I close my eyes and bury my head in my pillow as I place myself back at Goose Creek. I imagine my friends, laughing and talking around the campfire. I remember staring into the bright, night’s sky. I see myself climbing … then I remember, My camera!
I throw my comforter off and jump out of my bed. I pick up my backpack; start rummaging through it. Finally, I come across my camera. I gently take it out and sit on the edge of my bed. I turn it on and begin to look through my pictures. My eyes study each photograph. With each picture, I miss the mountains more. Oh, if only there was beauty of this degree here! Frustrated, I throw my camera back on my bed. I lie back down and stare at my ceiling. Rage and fury run through my veins.
The cool air is now being blown through my window. Annoyed, I got to close it. As I place my hand on the crank, I discover a new visitor. It is a lady bug, but now on my window’s ledge. Determined to return it to its home, I attempt to brush it into the palm of my hand. Its legs retract into his hard shell and it remains stationary under the crank. Forgetting the current circumstance and focus all of my attention on this. Eventually, I get it into my hand. I bring it near my eyes and study it closely, imagining what it is thinking. It reacts to me like a scared child to a bully. Feeling bad, I walk downstairs and through my font door to free this hopeless, little guy.
The first step onto the cold concrete sends shivers through my body; luckily, I do not trip as I walk to the bushes, captivated by this little bug. I place it on a leaf, lost in the mass of bushes. Déjà vu. My picture is recreated, only this time, much more beautiful. I now understand this bug and do not only see it as the focal point of a photograph. Instead, I recognize it has meaning, life, and will climb through an eternal forest of leaves and branches. What determination. I realize how ignorant I have been. Putting limits on beauty? Did I even know what beauty was? I walk back to my house with questions that consume my mind. I take a glance back at the ladybug, which has by now disappeared. At this moment, I promise myself to always seek out beauty… in everything and everywhere.
