Setting it down, I then pulled out the thickest book I could find. Only, it wasn’t really a book. The pages were thick and shiny, and had many little pockets. In each pocket, there were stiff cards with blurry pictures of people. No color at all. There were no words. No sense of order. Each picture seemed to exist on their own, rather than tell a story as a whole.
I didn’t understand what I was looking at. None of the people looked familiar. Still, they smiled as if they knew me. Others stared me down, not in a menacing way, but calm and composed. Almost like Father, except they were definitely different people. Some of them looked much older.
Although the picture book was just as confusing as the first book, I somehow found it more interesting. It was almost like a puzzle, trying to figure out what was going on in each of the pictures. The book itself was intriguing, as it was unlike the other ones Father has read to me. It felt very fragile, the pages crinkling when I lifted them. They had a bend down the middle, on the crease hat separated the pictures on the page. I had to be careful as I flipped through the book.
Father eventually noticed what I was looking at and came over. I glanced up, wondering if I shouldn’t have dug through his shelf. But he simply smiled at the book as he sat down next to me. “Do you know what this is?” he asked.
I shook my head, looking back down at the pictures.
Father put a hand on a page. He curled his fingers above one of the pictures and slipped them into the page, behind the picture. I blinked in surprise as he lifted his fingers back out, pulling the picture off the page with him. Father then held the picture closer to me.
“These are photographs,” he explained. “They capture images of real people.”
I drew in closer, wide eyed. “There are real people inside?”
Father laughed. “No, they’re just like any other picture. But instead of painting it, they are captured using light. So what you see is very similar to what you would see in person. Frozen in time.”
I didn’t really understand what he was talking about, but it was still amazing. I was looking at an actual person. He was a slightly old man standing next to a shorter woman about the same age.
“Uncle and Aunt Ogawa. Your great uncle and aunt.”
“Who?”
“My mother’s sister.” Father pointed to the woman. “And her husband.”
“Ah.” I lowered the photo, and Father slipped it back into the book. “Are there other people in here?”
“Yes. These are all family members and close friends.” Father scanned the page, then pointed at a different photo. “Do you know who this is?”
I looked at it, and saw three young boys. Older than me, but definitely not adults. Father was pointing at the tallest of the three. I shook my head. “Mm nm.”
“That’s your father.” I glanced up and saw him smiling.”
“Heh?! But…”
“Frozen in time, remember? That photo was taken almost twenty years ago.”
I was amazed. The boy looked so different compared to Father. I gave it a closer look. Father pointed at the boy’s face.
“You can see the similarities in my chin.”
I stared at the photo for a few moments. Sure, the boy’s chin was kind of pointy like Father’s. I had to briefly glance up at him, then back down to believe it.
“Who are the other people?”
“They… are my brothers,” his voice stumbled. “My younger brothers.”
I glanced back up at Father. His expression had changed. His smile dimming.
“Do you not like them?”
“No, no. I love them dearly.” Father quickly clarified. “I haven’t seen them in a long time.”
“Ah. Do you miss them?”
Father tensed up. His lips drew into his face. He looked like he was in pain. “Yes, I do.”
I wasn’t sure why he was acting like this all of a sudden. Father stared at the photo a little longer, then pointed at another. The one with the old man, staring down at me. “This is your grandfather.”