Camera Obesa - Ch. 1-3

Randy Newport was a pretty normal guy. A senior at Franklin University and member of the baseball team, he was generally well-liked by his colleagues and spent a good amount of his time studying and hanging out with friends. Ever since he was a kid, Randy’s been lanky and tall. Even after he got to college and had all the freedom in the world, he remained svelt. As all of his friends slowly put on weight, he stayed tall and lean. In fact, the idea of getting fat was Randy’s biggest fear.

Which just makes what happened to him all the more tragic.

* *

“C’mon man, just do it. Just dash in real quick and get outta there!”

It was a sunny day in August, and the baseball team was crowded around Randy, whose face was flustered and sweaty. “Guys...I really don’t think this is a good idea...” Randy muttered. Gregory, the team captain, scoffed. “All of us hafta do it, Dandy. It’s not a big deal, so stop being a pussy and get in there.” Behind the boys was a row of large, slightly dilapidated buildings: fraternity row. The building the team was referring to was a very large brown house that looked like it hadn’t been occupied for several decades. Ivy grew rampant over the brick coverings, the roof missing hundreds of shingles. The walkway up to the house was cracked and lop-sided: in other words, it was, for all intensive purposes, the “haunted house” of Franklin University.

All of this hype had started a few hours ago, when Randy and several other boys were initiated into the baseball team. Traditionally, all new members had to enter “Phi Kappa Beta” , the haunted fraternity, and return with some sort of proof that they had really explored the entire area. Usually that meant a brick or piece of wallpaper. Today was the day Randy was supposed to go on his rite of passage, and the house was looking more intimidating than ever. “What does this have to do with baseball?” Randy asked. Gregory looked Randy in the eyes, pouting slightly. “It’s tradition, Dandy. You don’t go in, you ain’t on the team.” Looking around for some support but finding none, Randy sighed hard, starting to get a headache. “Fine. I’ll be back.” he spat. Trying to not lose his balance on the uneven walkway, Randy found the doorknob and gave it a light twist, pressing open the door without much difficulty, and then shutting it behind him as his eyes started adjusting to the lack of lighting.

The inside of the house smelled of old milk and leather. Gasping, Randy quickly started breathing through his mouth, unable to stand the stench. Everything in the fraternity was destroyed. Much of it looked like it had been burned. Walls were broken down, tables were smashed, wallpaper peeled down to the floor and armchairs were crushed to pieces. The walls were splattered with what looked like rotten food that was attracting a small smatter of insects, and there was garbage everywhere: old pizza boxes, fast food bags, beer and soda cans. “Can’t take any of this stuff. There’s no way they’ll think it’s good enough.” Careful not to step on anything sharp, Randy decided to explore the second floor. The floorboards of the staircase creaked uneasily as he made his way into the hallway, which split off into two paths on either side. The carpeting running across the floor looked like it had been moth-bitten and rotten. “This must be where the bedrooms are.” Randy thought to himself, seeing that most of the rooms had no doors, and looked like they contained beds and dressers. There was no noise in the house outside of his own heavy breathing, making Randy even more uneasy than he already was. Quietly, he pushed one of the filthy doors open. Stepping inside, Randy shined his flashlight around the destroyed area. A mattress sat in one corner entirely flattened. There was even a large hole in the center of the room that looked like it was the size of a small kiddy pool. All around Randy saw more of the garbage and food debris covering the walls. “Wh...?” he murmered, unsure of exactly what had happened that would cause a room to get to such a state.

Looking at his feet, Randy saw that he was now stepping on what looked like clothing material. There were hundreds of garments on the floor, all of them violently torn to shreds. “...this place is getting weirder by the minute.” Randy mused. Finally, his flashlight fell on an old dresser. Slowly, carefully, Randy pulled one of the compartments out. His flashlight hit something very shiny, causing him to clamp his eyes shut in surprise. “Agh!” Quickly Randy shut his light off, reaching inside and pulling out whatever it was that was inside the chest. It was something plastic and metal, not too heavy and perfect for carrying with one hand. “Alright, this will do. Let’s get out of here...” Carefully Randy stepped around the giant hole in the floor to reach the doorway. Looking back one last time, he started to feel a bit sick. Something had happened in that house. Something big.

Chapter Two: The First Victim

Emerging from the house, the rest of the team started applauding and cheering. “Dude, you did it! I knew you could!” Gregory sneered. “Pft.” he spat. “That was quick. What’d you find, a pebble?” Ignoring Gregory, Randy held out his discovery to the group, himself getting a first look at it in the sunlight.

It was a camera. But the camera Randy found didn’t seem like a normal one. It was very small for a polaroid, with bright red gems all over the perimeter of the hard black plastic. The lens was large and shiny, even though the camera looked very old otherwise. Blowing some dust off, Randy inspected his treasure a bit more. “Cool...it looks like it’s an antique. I wonder if it still works.”

Before Randy had even finished his sentence, Gregory grabbed the camera from his grasp. “Let’s find out! Say cheese, Fred!” Fred, another of the baseball teams members, couldn’t yell in protest before a bright flash blinded the team for a second. With a sputtering cough, the camera spit out a thin, black polaroid picture. Triumphantly, Gregory pulled it out, shaking it in his hand.  “Cool! It totally works-” Mere seconds after Gregory had pulled it out, the polaroid was snatched away from his grasp by the breeze, whisking far up into the sky. “Dammit. Stupid wind.” Quickly bored with the device, Gregory pushed it back into Randy’s hands. “Alright, well, I guess that’s good enough. You’re in. See you at practice, Pansy.” Most of the team members left, seeing that the action was over. Only Kent, the team water boy, stayed behind. Randy hadn’t talked to him too much, but he seemed nice enough. Randy quickly noticed he was eyeing the camera. He was wearing a thick pair of glasses, his arms and legs even thinner than Randys. “That thing looks...really cool. Do you mind if I use it?” Kent chirped. Randy shrugged. “Sure, do whatever you want. I’d like to see if it works myself.” Kent smiled, revealing his crooked grin. “Should I take a picture of you?” he asked. Randy chuckled. “Nah, that’s pretty boring.” Kent pressed the camera to his chin, thinking hard. His eyes lit up as he found a solution. “Hey, I know! Let’s take a picture of my vegetable garden! It’s still pretty small but I’d love to have a picture of it to send my mom.” Randy rolled his eyes inside his head. “Uh, sure.”

* * *
Kent, with Randy in tow, made his way to the greenhouse near Randy’s dorm. It was a pretty expansive place that housed most of the vegetables the cafeteria sold in the organic salad bar. Randy knew that Kent was a big environmentalist; it only made sense that he had a vegetable garden. Excitedly, Kent stopped in front of a small plot of land decorated with a string of tomato plants and several green carrot stems poking out of the ground. Holding the camera carefully, he snapped a photograph. Bouncing with excitement, he pulled the photo out to take a look. Randy was beginning to wonder why he had come in the first place. “Alright now, let’s see....” Randy watched as Kent’s face went from elation to confusion. His hand started to shake. “W-what’s up? Are you okay?” Randy asked. Kent obviously tried to mouth something, but he couldn’t seem to find the words. He just held out the photo to Randy, who took it hesitantly. What he saw explained everything.

CHAPTER 3 - GROW

The photograph was still coming into focus, but one thing was clear: in the photo, Kent’s vegetables were HUGE. The tomato plants looked like they might be the size of watermelons, and the carrots had grown too big for the ground, pushing up so far that their tops went way beyond the top of the photo. “What the...what the hell is this?” Kent finally seemed to find his voice. “...I...I don’t know. Maybe it’s...some kind of trick?” Both boys were unsure of what to do. The vegetables in the photo were so giant that there was no ground visible at all. Just thick, plump red and orange. Kent gently took the photo back, putting it in his pocket. “I uh...I don’t really know what to think about that.” Randy laughed gently. “It’s gotta be some kind of magnifying glass trick or something. I mean, look at that stuff. It’s so obviously fake. No vegetable would ever grow to be that big.” Randy patted Kent’s shoulder, trying to reassure him. “...Yeah. Yeah, you’re probably right.

The first day of baseball practice went off without a hitch that Friday, Randy performing so well that even Gregory nodded his head a few times in approval. Kent still seemed distracted, spilling about seven cups of water onto team members before finally getting it right. The only person who didn’t show up to practice was Fred. At the end of the session, the team gathered around. Gregory, a bit of irritation in his voice, spoke. “Alright, well it looks like our star player has decided that he’s got better things to do, so I’m going to appoint Randy as our MVP for the time being.” Amazed that Gregory gave half a crap about him, Randy was surprised by the round of applause he received. Even Kent clapped along. “Wow. Thanks a lot, guys. That’s...real nice of you. I’ll do my best.” The team dispersed, leaving Randy and Kent alone again on the field. “Good practice.” Kent commented. Randy nodded. “Yeah, seems like this year might be our year to take on the nationals. I would love to see the face on my dad if he knew that!” Kent shifted from foot to foot for a while before talking again. “Um. So, uh, you remember that photo?” Randy’s expression went from cocky contentness to slight irritation. “...Yeah. What about it?” Kent blushed a little. “...Um...I mean, I don’t wanna make something out of nothing. But...didn’t Gregory take a picture of Fred that day?” Randy put his bat down, folding his arms in front of his chest. Kent continued. “And now he’s been absent for three days? Do you think...” Randy didn’t let Kent finish his thought. “What? Do I think that Fred turned into a huge vegetable and hopped off to the salad bar? C’mon, man, it was some stupid prank. Fred’s probably just bein’ lazy.” Randy smiled. “I mean hey, he better watch out with me on the team now!” Kent did his best to laugh too. “Hah. Yeah, yeah. Right.” Both boys gathered their things, making their way out of the field.

By the time he had gotten to his dorm the sun was high in the sky. It was a perfectly peaceful day that day, and for Randy, things were looking up in a lot of ways. At the moment Randy was about to put his hand on the door, from behind the building came a group of shrieks. Without thinking, Randy dropped his things and sprinted to where he had heard the screams. Was someone hurt? As Randy got closer and closer to where the noise was, he saw that it had come from inside of the greenhouse. The thought crossed his mind for a split second, but he quickly put it out of his mind, throwing open the glass door.

One of the biology students had collapsed on the ground, her face petrified. Several other students were gathered around, one of which was Kent. Randy tried to get a good look at what they were so surprised by, but soon he knew that he didn’t need to know.

It was Kent’s vegetables.

The tomatoes were impossibly gigantic, even bigger than they were in the photograph. The carrots stood several feet above the ground, just like the photo showed. Kent quickly found Randy’s eye-line. His face was stern. “Alright everyone, nothing to see here!” Another one of the biology students helped the girl to her feet, ushering her out of the crowded greenhouse. Soon, it was just Kent and Randy. The two didn’t say a thing to each other for several minutes. They just stared at the crops. There was no passing this off as trickery anymore. Kent spoke first. “Something’s going on, Randy. You know it is.” Despite the evidence right in front of him, Randy chuckled. “Kent...c’mon. Don’t you think you’re being a little silly? Are you sure you didn’t just over-fertilize this thing?” Randy kicked one of the carrots playfully. It felt as thick and sturdy as a tree trunk. For the first time, Kent got angry. “Are you kidding me?! You think that fertilizer can do THIS? You don’t think the camera did it? Really? You think it was all a coincidence?” Randy played with his shirt for a second, not meeting Kent’s gaze. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Growing even more infuriated, Kent reached into his bag. Randy already knew what was in it. If he had been a split second faster, maybe it wouldn’t have happened. But it did.