Me and my friend, who I will call Dave in fear of disclosing any personal info, were walking in the park the other day. We always hang out at the park, whether we are throwing a football, playing basketball, or just walking and talking. We saw something hanging on a tree and decided to check it out, after further investigation, we saw that it was an old Polaroid camera, it’s neck strap hanging on a tree branch. Curious, we climbed the tree and grabbed it.
It seemed relatively normal, but something was off about it. We pointed it at the empty lake nearby, and clicked the red button. The button was hard, and took some strength to press. It flashed and we waited.
Soon enough, the picture was printed out of the camera, and we shook it. We saw the same lake, as we saw it, but with some ducks in it, eating bread as a woman in a red shirt fed them. We thought it was weird, as we didn’t see the ducks or the woman, but ignored it. Minutes later, Dave pointed to the spot we took a picture of, as the same woman in a red shirt walked over to the water, holding a bag of bread. Some ducks swam by, and she fed the ducks. We were able to see the exact moment that looked like the picture. The woman throwing the bread, some ducks trying to catch it, while others still ate bread from earlier.
We found it weird and tried something else. We took a picture of the park bench. The picture that printed, had an old man sitting on it. We waited, watching the bench. Ten minutes later, we saw the old man on the bench. Odd, we thought. As we took more pictures, we saw the future through them. The more pictures we took, the longer it took for the events to happen. We took a picture of Dave’s house, and it was on fire. Dave panicked, and ran inside. We checked everything and there is no way the house could be on fire any time soon. We did some math on our phone calculators, and based on how far into the future the pictures had been, we determined that by 2:45 the next morning, the house will catch fire. The distance into the future is growing exponentially.
We stayed up all night and tried to stop the house from catching fire. We made sure the stove was off, we put out every candle, we sat with a fire extinguisher. When the clock said 2:30 AM, we got up, we walked around, unplugging all electronics. The toaster sparked, and we immediately extinguished it before anything caught fire. The microwave sparked, and we did the same thing.
Suddenly, the camera, sitting on the living room table, snapped, as if it was taking a picture, and the wall it was facing erupted into flames. We gasped, spraying it, but the flames spread. We ran out of the house, it filled with smoke. “Wait! The camera! We have to know what happens next!” Dave shouts.
I try to stop him but he’s already in the house. Soon, I hear his screams.
“WHERE IS IT!” He screamed, both in anger and agony.
Dave then threw the camera out the open door, and I caught it. Minutes later, the fire department came, and told me that Dave had died in the fire.
I went home, crying. I glared at the camera, blaming it for Dave’s’ death. I tried to fight the urge. I knew that whatever the picture would tell me, trying to prevent it will ultimately make it happen. I couldn’t, I had to know. I pointed the Polaroid at myself and clicked the button. 30 seconds later, the dark square printed. I shook it, still holding the camera.
I instantly threw the camera across the room. What I saw horrified me. I don’t want to say what I saw, but I was dead.
I am writing this now, still shaken up. I ask you what I should do, I have already seen that the camera will make things happen with a click, so I come to Reddit, hoping you guys can help. I will die in two days at 6:48 PM, so you guys are limited in time. Any information or advice will help.