There, in the top right corner, that blur. See it? No, it’s not a smudge, it’s real. This is a special kind of camera. No holiday snaps of laughing kids here. The device strips away the flesh, to reveal … see? Your ribs, your radius, humerus and ulna. The miraculous complexity of the wrist. The radium camera reveals what you’re made of. But the blur isn’t a bone – it’s your spirit.
No, you can’t keep the image, sorry. We hold them in safe keeping. Sometimes we spread them all out on the floor and compare souls, judge who’s most worthy.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here.
Neil MacDonald Author 
Very well put together.
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Thanks, Lisa
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I can’t think of many people who would like to have their inner soul exposed in this way!
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And yet they queue up to be on reality shows
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Very true
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Dear Neil,
That was pretty high on the chilling scale. Something out of The Outer Limits. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. I hadn’t specifically intended it to be chilling, but I can see it is
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You took us into another world.
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Thanks, Reena
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Fascinating. I remember someone in my office buying x-ray specs by mail order. Don’t think they penetrated the soul though, just the purse.
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Thanks, Jilly. Shoe shops used to have X ray machines, and I think fairgrounds did
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Brilliant and unusual take on the photo promp – chilled me to the bone! 🙂
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks so much, Susan
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Guess most souls will be tossed into the ‘not worthy’ bin.
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Oh no. They keep them all. But some they reserve a special hell for
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Thanks all the same but I won’t have my photo taken here! Great story, Neil.
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Thanks, Edith
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It’s a frightening thought to have the photographer judge your spirit and soul. Great original take.
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Thanks so much
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I really like this one. We get a lot of pictures with orbs. I like to think of them as ghosts as well.
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They’re everywhere
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Judgment of the soul reduced to a technical procedure. Chilling!
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Oh no. The judgement is still made by the hucksters in the hall of mirrors. The camera is just an aid
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Well, that, in a good way, is totally creepy.
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Well in a non-creepy way, thank you Alicia
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These prompts are awesome, absolutely love how everyone has a different take. Yours is pretty unique, must say.
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Thanks so much, Priya
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It takes a black soul to do that kind of judging.
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Comparing souls to see who is worthy? I find that VERY chilling! It’s a unique idea, though, to be able to take a photo of someone’s spirit.
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Happens all the time
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You “see” in such an interesting way this week, Neil! Love this!
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Thanks so much, Dale
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That’s pretty creepy. Nice one!
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Thanks
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Chillingly creepy, Neil. While people do expose themselves to varying degree on FB etc, we have control over what we choose to share. In this instance, our control has been violated, which is something quite a lot of people get upset about.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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Thanks, Rowena
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Very chilling–especially when I, too, have wondered about those blurred images in photographs!
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Don’t think about them too much
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Quite an unusual refreshing take on the prompt. I think a camera like that could be useful. See people for what they are?
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They’d never allow it to be made
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An X-ray for the soul? Thanks, but no thanks 🙂
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I agree
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Oooo hell of a device. Would you want to see your soul? Ceeepy great idea
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Absolutely not. The rot has got into it
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This reminds me of the year i spent in Germany in Wuerzburg the home of Roentgen, the inventor of the xray. I imagine when it was first introduced, it was as spooky as what you now describe is to us!
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How fascintating that must have been. Yes I can remember as a child being fascinated by X-rays
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Oooh! The gods talking over a drink?
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I like that idea, but what I had in mind was fairground hucksters
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A photographer judging my soul- how scary would that be. You are a fantastic storyteller. This line “Sometimes we spread them all out on the floor and compare souls, judge who’s most worthy,” chilled me to the bone.
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Thank so much for that lovely compliment
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My pleasure 🙂
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Such an interesting take on the prompt. Using early X-ray machines inflicted considerable damage to those who operated them. Making your tale ring very true.
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Yes they did. Thanks, Michael
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Once all is stripped bare, this is what is left; rather sad.
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I think there may be a bit more, bit it doesn’t show up in X rays
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Your narrator sems very possessive of his soulprints. I wonder how his own might be judged…
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Unblemished, of course
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That’s an interesting interpretation of ‘safe-keeping’ as it’s obviously unsafe for the ones the photographers decide are no longer worthy. A wonderful idea that leaves me unsettled.
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Safe keeping may depend on whose safety. Thansk, Sarah Ann
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Mysterious and scary. I thought of the narrator as a being in a higher dimension rather than a photographer.
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More a sprite in a low life funfair in my imagination. Think Hall of Mirrors
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Ah, interesting.
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Well, THAT was different!
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Wonder what they do with unworthy souls? A great take on the prompt.
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Creepy… But cool at the same time
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Thanks, Bernadette
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Those examinations of conscience can be so tough
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Thanks, Larry
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