Echoes in a Photograph | From Twilight Shadows

 

Sometimes, the pictures we keep tell stories we’ve tried to forget.

He brought (the picture frame) closer. The family photograph in front of his home had been his mother’s idea. She’d begged him for a picture she could show off to the other residents of her Florida condo, and he’d finally relented. He straightened, studying the picture. His younger self stared back at him from the center of the photo, surrounded by his children. He looked quite distinguished in his crisp black suit and electric red tie.

His boys stood tall on either side of him. Jonathan Jr., fifteen, was his father's son. A mirror image with sandy hair and striking eyes, the same ambitions burning behind them. Jonathan smirked as he reminisced. Preston, twelve, was charismatic and confident. He wore a brown sweater and the poise of a born athlete. Nicholas, nine, was quiet, more reserved than his brothers. His blue sweater was probably the only piece of clothing he owned that wasn't splattered with paint.

And then Autumn…

Jonathan’s chest tightened. She was five then, standing in front with a small, careful smile. Sarah’s features, Sarah’s hair, but those eyes — amber, luminous, unsettling in a way he could never name.

🔥 What do you see when you look at this family — warmth, or something waiting in the shadows?