The Double Exposure
Inside Gracy and Mike's house in Queens, NY, Grandpa Mike and the rest of the family are sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Diane D is leaning against the kitchen counter drinking a glass of orange juice. Gracy approaches Diane D and says,
"You're suppose to do a photo shoot at the studio today, aren't you Diane?"
"Yeah Grandma," Diane D says.
"Well you better hurry up and get going before you wind up missing it, then they'll have to cancel it and reschedule."
"Okay Grandma. I gotta go up stairs and get something."
"Okay hurry up now."
"Okay Grandma." Diane D turns away from Gracy and heads out the kitchen.
Thirty minutes later, Nicolas and Uncle Willie come into the kitchen. Nicolas then says, "Hey Grandma, where's Diane? She hasn't come to the car yet. We're still waiting for her."
"She said she had to go upstairs to get something," Gracy says. "She should have been back down by now."
"Well if she doesn't hurry up, she's going to miss her photo shoot," Uncle Willie says.
"Let me go upstairs to see what's keeping her."
"I'll go with you Ma."
"Okay." Gracy starts to head to the kitchen entry way as Uncle Willie and Nicolas turn and follow her.
Gracy, Uncle Willie and Nicolas are walking in the upstairs hallway. Most of the bedroom doors are open as Gracy, Uncle Willie and Nicolas peak their heads in all the bedrooms and the bathroom. They then walk to the bedroom at the end of the hallway that has the door closed. Gracy, Uncle Willie and Nicolas approach the bedroom door as Gracy turns to Uncle Willie and Nicolas and says, "I guess she's in here." Gracy 41
turns back to the door and taps on it. There is no answer. "Diane," Gracy says. There is still no answer. She tries to open the door, but the door is locked. It won't open.
Gracy knocks on the door again and shouts, "Diane!" There is still no answer. Gracy turns to Uncle Willie and says, "What's going on? She has to be in there. She never came back downstairs."
"I'll go get the master key," Uncle Willie says as he goes away.
Nicolas quietly pulls Gracy down the other end of the hallway.
Nicolas brings Gracy aside and whispers to her, "Try not to knock on the door again Grandma."
"Why not?" Gracy whispers.
"Because I think Diane is up to something."
"Up to something? Like what?"
"I have a strange feeling, that she's in there meditating."
"What? Meditating? You think so Nicolas?"
"I know so Grandma because that's what she does! Why do you think she has the door locked. I think she is secretly meditating in there."
"But your Grandma Margarita and Grandpa Tomas told her that she's not allowed to meditate anymore."
"Yeah but Grandma Margarita and Grandpa Tomas aren't here. That's why Diane's taking advantage of it right now. So let Uncle Willie get the master key so we can open the door and catch her in the act."
"Okay Nicolas."
"Here comes Uncle Willie with the master key," Nicolas says as he looks behind Gracy. Nicolas and Gracy turn towards Uncle Willie and start to walk towards him.
Nicolas and Gracy approach Uncle Willie as Uncle Willie whispers to them, "I got the master key. I'm going to open the door."
"Go ahead Willie," Gracy whispers. They all turn to the bedroom door. Uncle Willie approaches the bedroom door and taps on it. They still hear no answer. Uncle Willie puts the key in the keyhole and turns the lock. He unlocks the bedroom door and opens it. Uncle Willie, Gracy and Nicolas look in the room. They are shocked to see Diane D
and Dana both sitting on the floor in a state of trance facing each other meditating with their legs folded and several lighted candles on the floor surrounding them as they hold two lighted candles in each of their hands! "Diane, Dana!" Gracy and Uncle Willie shout!
Uncle Willie, Gracy and Nicolas rush into the bedroom to Diane D and Dana. They bend and carefully take the lighted candles out of Diane D's and Dana's hands and blow the candles out! They bend again and pick the lighted candles off the floor and blow them out too! Uncle Willie, Gracy and Nicolas then look at Diane D and Dana. They shake Diane D and Dana by the shoulders trying to snap them out of their state of trance. Diane D and Dana suddenly snap out of their state of trance. They turn their heads and puzzledly look around. They then look up at Uncle Willie, Gracy and Nicolas as Uncle Willie shouts to them, "What the hell is going on here?!"
"What are you two doing?!" Gracy shouts. "Are you two trying to burn up the place?! And you're supposed to be on your way to a photo shoot right now Diane and 42
THIS is what you and Dana are doing instead?! Lighting up the room with candles meditating?!" Diane D and Dana nervously look at Gracy not knowing what to say.
Around an hour later, Mary and some organization staff members are inside a studio room as they impatiently wait for Diane D to show up. Suddenly Diane D enters the studio and shouts, "I'm here everybody!" Everyone in the studio turns towards Diane D.
"Diane!" everyone shouts. Everyone approaches Diane D.
"Diane where have you been?!" Mary shouts. "You're late!"
"I'm sorry Mom," Diane D says, "but I got caught up in something."
"You got caught up in something?! Something like what?!"
"Mom, can we talk about it later?"
"Oh you bet we will talk about it later because time is money! You should have been here already! Now let's get this photo shoot going! Where's your brother and your Uncle Willie?"
"Oh they said they were going to the cafeteria to get some coffee."
"Okay." Mary turns to the side and shouts, "Make-up!" A Hispanic female make-up artist hurries to Diane D. She approaches Diane D with make-up in her hands. Diane D
closes here eyes and holds her head up as the make-up artist quickly dabs a little make up on her face.
The female make-up artist finishes dabbing Diane D's face. She turns to Mary and says, "I'm done Miss Mary."
"Thank you," Mary says as the female make-up artist turns and hurries back. Mary turns to Diane D and says, "Now go get in front of the camera Diane."
"Okay Mom," Diane D says. She then turns and hurries to the middle of the room.
Diane D approaches the middle of the room where a middle aged Mid-Eastern male photographer with dark hair and a beard, his male assistant and a camera are. The photographer looks at Diane D and says, "Diane D! Wow it is so nice to see you again!"
"Thank you sir," Diane D says. "Sorry I'm late. How do you want me to pose?"
"Well I would really like you to hold the parrot while I take your photo."
"Parrot? What parrot?" Diane D looks to the side and sees a parrot. She starts to smile and says, "Wow, what a lovely parrot! You want me to take a photo shoot with it?"
"Yes."
"Okay. How do you want me to pose with the parrot?"
"I want you to hold the parrot slightly over your head, face your body sideways and have one leg up with your foot on the stool while you're looking into the camera, okay?"
"Got it."
The male assistant takes the parrot and brings it to Diane D. Diane D smiles at the parrot as the male assistant hands it to her. She holds the parrot. She admires the parrot. "Almost ready Diane D?" the photographer's voice says.
Diane D turns to the photographer and says, "Yes, I'm ready."
"Okay."
Diane D faces sideways. She puts one leg up with her foot on the stool. She then holds the parrot slightly over her head as she turns her head and looks into the camera.
"Perfect," the photographer says. The photographer looks into the camera and is 43
about to snap Diane D's photo. Diane D suddenly looks to the side of the camera. The photographer then says to her, "I need you to look directly into the camera Diane D.
Try not to look to the side."
"Okay." Diane D continues to hold the parrot slightly over her head with one foot on the stool as she looks into the camera.
"Perfect," the photographer says again. The photographer looks into the camera and is about to snap Diane D's photo again. Diane D suddenly looks to the side of the camera again. The photographer then says to her, "Can you try not to look to the side Diane D? I need you to look directly into the camera."
"Sorry. I'll try again."
"Okay."
Diane D continues to hold the parrot slightly over her head as she looks into the camera.
"Perfect," the photographer says again. The photographer looks into the camera and is about to take Diane D's photo. Diane D annoyingly looks to the side of the camera. The photographer, Mary, the male assistant and everyone else in the room puzzled look at Diane D. They then turn their heads and look to the side to see what she's looking at. They do not see anything special. They look back at Diane D. Mary walks towards Diane D.
Mary approaches Diane D with her arms folded as Diane D lowers the parrot. She then says, "What's wrong Diane? Hm? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah everything is okay Mom," Diane D says.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure."
"Then why aren't you looking into the camera like the photographer asked?"
"I don't know Mom. Maybe my coordination is off."
"Your coordination?"
"Yeah."
"Come on Diane we got to get it together. We got to get this photo shoot right.
Money is riding on this."
"Okay Mom. I'll try my hardest to keep my eye on the camera."
"Okay, we'll try it again." Mary turns away and heads towards the photographer.
Mary approaches the photographer and says, "Let's try this again."
"Okay," the photographer says.
Diane D holds the parrot slightly over her head again as she looks into the camera.
"Perfect," the photographer says again. The photographer looks into the camera and is about to snap Diane D's photo again. Diane D annoyingly looks off to the side of the camera again. The photographer and Mary become annoyed. They puzzled look back at Diane D. They then turn their heads and look to the side again to see what she's looking at. They still do not see anything special. They look back at Diane D again. The photographer then turns to Mary and says, "I don't think this is gonna work out. She keeps taking her eyes off the camera looking at something. What is she looking at?"
"I don't know," Mary says. "But let me go find out." Mary turns from the photographer and heads back towards Diane D.
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Mary approaches Diane D and says, "Diane is everything okay? What's the matter baby? Is there something you want to talk about?"
"No Mom," Diane D says. "What is there to talk about?"
"Well first of all, you came to this photo shoot late, now you're not looking into the camera as the photographer is about to snap your picture. Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"No Mom. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah I'm sure."
"Good. Since your eyes keep going off to the side of the camera, I think the photographer should change your pose and position. I'm going to see if he can have you looking at the parrot instead of looking at the camera."
"Okay Mom."
"Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah. I don't see why not."
"Okay. Hang on." Mary turns away from Diane D and walks back towards the photographer.
Mary approaches the photographer and starts talking to him as Diane D looks on at them.
Diane D then turns her head to the parrot and smiles at it as she continues to hold it. "Diane D!" the photographer's voice calls out. Diane D turns and looks at the photographer.
The photographer then says, "We're going to try to take a photo of you looking at the parrot instead of at the camera, how that sounds?!"
"That's sounds wonderful!" Diane D shouts.
"Are you sure you can handle that?"
"We can try! Let's go for it!"
"Okay! We're going to have your sideview and face facing the camera while your looking at the parrot, okay?"
"Got it." Diane D changes positions as she goes to the other side of the stool. She then holds the parrot slightly over her head as she looks at it with her sideview and face facing the camera.
"Perfect," the photographer says again. The photographer looks into the camera and is about to snap Diane D's photo. The photographer then snaps Diane D's photo.
He snaps it a few times and shouts, "Perfect!"
Diane D looks at the photographer and shouts, "How was that?! Was that better?!"
"Much better Diane D! Thanks." The photographer takes the camera and looks down at it. He goes to the pictures of Diane D inside of it. He opens up the pictures.
He and his assistant look down at the pictures. They find the pictures of Diane D with the parrot. They see two pictures of her posing with the parrot. They suddenly see a photo of Diane D with the parrot and a second image of Diane D standing right in front of herself with its back right up against the front of Diane D angrily staring directly into the camera! "What the..!" the photographer and his assistant shout as they see two different images of Diane D standing with each other in the same photo! Everyone in the room turn and puzzled look at the photographer and his assistant. They are stunned to see a look of shock on the photographer's and his assistant's faces as the 45
photographer and his assistant stare at the camera.
"What happened?!" Mary shouts to them. The photographer and his assistant shockingly look up at everybody in the room. They then turn and shockingly look at Diane D!
Diane D puzzled looks at the photographer and says, "Why are you looking at me like that sir?"
"I just want to know," the photographer nervously says.
"You just want to know what?"
"Do you have an identical twin sister?!"
"What!" everyone shouts as they look at the photographer.
"Do I have an identical twin sister?" Diane D asks.
"Yeah," the photographer says.
"No, I don't have an identical twin sister."
"You don't have an identical twin sister?"
"No I don't. As a matter of fact, I don't have any sisters at all."
"No sisters at all?"
"No, just two brothers."
"Just two brothers?"
"Yes," Mary says. "She only has two brothers sir. She's my only girl."
"Your only girl?"
"That's right. She doesn't have a twin."
"Well was she born a twin? Did she ever had a twin sister who passed away at birth or something?"
"No, I never gave birth to twins."
"Never?"
"No, not at all! I had three pregnancies and they all resulted in single birth babies.
There were no multiple births among my children."
"No multiple births at all?"
"No none at all. What's the problem?"
"The problem is, I saw two of her in one of these photos!"
"Two of her! Diane?"
"Yeah!"
"What? Let me take a look!" The photographer shows Mary the photos in the camera. Diane D approaches the photographer. She looks at the camera as the photographer shows the pictures to Mary and everyone else. Everyone looks at the pictures. They see all the photos of Diane D holding the parrot, but they do not see anyone else in the photo. Mary then says, "What are you talking about, there's no one else in these pictures."
"You don't see a double image of Diane D?"
"No I don't."
"It's strange because I don't see it now either."
"You mean whatever you saw in the picture is gone?"
"I don't see it now. But it WAS there!"
"It was!" the male assistant shouts. "I saw it too!"
"You said you saw two of Diane inside the picture," Mary asks.
"Yeah we did!" the photographer says.
"Well maybe it was a double exposure of Diane. I mean she had plenty of photos 46
taking of herself. Maybe that is an old image inside the camera."
"Miss Mary this camera is brand new. It has never been used before."
"It hasn't?"
"No! But if it was used before, Diane D was no where around it!"
"What did you see inside the picture with Diane?"
"I saw a second image of her."
"You saw a second image of her?"
"Yes."
"Well if you saw a second image of her, maybe the picture somehow duplicated itself! I mean you did snap a few photos of her. Maybe the camera double clicked or something."
"No it couldn't have double clicked Miss Mary because the second image of Diane D
was posing in a different way!"
"What do you mean it was posing in a different way?"
"It was looking directly into the camera while the regular image of Diane D was looking at the parrot!"
"What!" everybody shouts. "Looking into the camera?!"
"Yeah!"
"How did the image look like while it was looking at the camera?" Mary asks.
"Mean!"
"Mean?!"
"Yeah!" the camera assistant says. "It looked like Diane D's twin looking right at the camera giving us a mean stare!"
"What!" everybody shouts.
"Looking at the camera giving you a mean stare?" Mary asks.
"Yeah! And now it's not there!"
"Wow," Alex says. "That sounds pretty creepy."
"It certainly does," Stephanie, a black female staff member, says.
"Are you sure that the image looked like Diane?" Mary asks.
"Yes it looked just like her!" the photographer shouts. The photographer looks back at Diane D and says, "Was that a ghost of your twin Diane D?"
"Didn't you hear what my mom just told you?" Diane D says. "I don't have a twin and never had one. If I ever was born a twin, my mom would be the first to know.
Didn't you have me look right into the camera when you first tried to snap a photo of me?"
"Yeah."
"Well there you go!"
"But when I had you look directly into the camera, I never got the chance to snap the photo of you because your eyes kept going off camera, which made me not snap the photo of you! Maybe that's why your eyes kept going off the camera and looking to the side when I first tried to snap your photo. You were probably looking at something the rest of us couldn't see, were you?"
"What the hell would I be looking at, that the rest of you can't see?"
"Well the direction your eyes kept looking towards when I first tried to snap a photo of you, was the exact same spot I saw that second image of you standing! Your eyes kept looking to the side at that same exact spot like you were annoyed by something. Was there something next to you that you were annoyed by Diane D?
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Something the rest of us couldn't see?"
"Yes as a matter of fact, there was something next to me that I was annoyed by."
"There was?"
"Yeah."
"Well what was it?!"
"A tiny fly that kept flying right in front of my face."
"A tiny fly?"
"Yeah. I was very annoyed by that fly, that's what I kept looking at. Of course none of you were able to see the fly because it was too tiny and small for any of you to see or notice it."
"Really? So you're blaming a fly for your eyes going off camera?"
"Yes I am. We all know flies can be real pests."
"I haven't seen any flies around here lately Diane D."
"Well maybe it could have been Mary in the picture," Stephanie says. "Maybe that second image of Diane was actually Mary! After all, Mary and Diane do look alike.
They favor each other a lot. They can pass for twins themselves. Maybe it could have been Mary in the double exposure."
"Miss Mary was never in front of the camera while I was snapping the photo of Diane D. So it can't be her."
"Are you sure there is no camera reverse switch that can turn the camera lens around and snap a picture of Mary at the same time you snapped a photo of Diane?"
Alex asks. "I mean Mary was standing behind the camera at the same time you were snapping the photo of Diane."
"This camera lens can only face one direction at a time. It cannot turn around. Plus Mary is not wearing the same clothes Diane D is wearing. The second image I saw of Diane D was wearing the exact same thing she's wearing right now." The photographer puzzled looks at Diane D again.
Diane D annoyingly says, "You're still looking at me like that?! Well while you're looking at me, I'm going to go out for lunch." Diane D turns to Mary and says, "Mom, I'll be outside."
"Okay baby," Mary says as Diane D leaves and heads out the door.
Around two hours later, Margarita, Tomas, Mary, Barry, Marilyn and Tonio are at the organization inside Margarita's office surrounding Margarita as she sits behind her desk wearing a black pants suit with her long black hair hanging all around her sides and back. Mary paces back and forth with her arms folded as Barry turns to her and says, "You didn't see the double image of Diane in the picture Mary?"
"No," Mary says as she stops pacing. "But the photographer and his assistant swore it was there!"
"And no one else saw this double image of Diane but the photographer and his assistant?" Tomas asks.
"Yeah Dad, no one else saw it."
"Wow, that's strange," Margarita says.
Suddenly the door opens. Nicolas and Uncle Willie enter the office. "Hey everybody," Nicolas says.
"Hey Nicolas, hey Willie," the family says.
"How was Diane's photo shoot today?" Uncle Willie asks "Did she get to have her 48
photo taking in time? I hope she didn't miss it."
"She almost missed it Willie," Margarita says. "The photographer was about to cancel her photo shoot because she came there late! But Mary wind up convincing him to wait a little while longer!"
"Oh. Sorry we got her there late Mary."
"Willie," Barry says. "Since you and Nicolas drove Diane to the photo shoot, why did y'all bring her there late?"
"We had to wait for her to come out the house. We couldn't leave without her."
"So what took her so long to come out the house?"
"I'll tell you the reason what took her so long."
"What's the reason?"
"She was upstairs meditating."
"What!" Barry, Mary, Magarita and Tomas shout. "Meditating?!"
"She was meditating?!" Mary shouts. "Seriously?!"
"Yeah!" Uncle Willie says. "She was meditating right inside the bedroom upstairs!"
"She was meditating again?!" Margarita shouts.
"Yeah! Mom, Nicolas and I caught her! That's what took her so long to come out the house!"
"My God I don't believe this!"
"I even asked Diane why she came to the photo shoot late, and she didn't want to tell me right away!" Mary shouts.
"Well that's why she didn't want to tell you!" Uncle Willie shouts. "She was upstairs in the room meditating!"
"How did you catch her meditating Willie?!"
"When Diane took a while to come out the house, Nicolas and I went back in the house to see what's keeping her. That's when Mom told us that Diane went back upstairs. So we found out, that Diane went upstairs, but never came back down. So we went upstairs to check on her. All the bedroom doors were open except for the last bedroom door so we went to it! We called out to Diane, but she never answered. We tapped on the door, but there was still no answer! We tried to open the door, but it was locked. We couldn't open it, so I decided to get the master key. I came back with the master key and unlocked the door. When I opened the door, there she was sitting there on the floor meditating."
"Tomas and I strictly told Diane she's not allowed to meditate anymore?!"
Margarita shouts.
"Well that's what she was doing, meditating! Her and Dana!"
"What!" Barry, Mary, Magarita and Tomas shout. "Dana too?!"
"Yes! Both Diane and Dana were sitting on the floor in a state of trance meditating with lighted candles surrounding them!"
"What!"
"They were both in a state of trance?!" Margarita shouts.
"With lighted candles surrounding them?!" Tomas shouts.
"Yeah," Uncle Willie says. "So we went into the room, picked the candles up off the floor and blew them all out! Then we woke Diane and Dana up from their state of trance! That's why Diane was late to the photo shoot because she was busy meditating!"
"Why that sneaky woman!" Mary shouts.
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"No wonder why this strange thing happened with the photo shoot!" Margarita shouts.
"What happened with the photo shoot?" Nicolas asks.
"The photographer told Mary and everyone else inside the studio that he saw two different images of Diane right in the same photo on his camera!"
"He saw two different images of Diane?!"
"Yeah, he and his assistant did! They thought they were looking at a pair of twins in the photo!"
"A pair of twins?!"
"Yes! No wonder why that strange thing happened at her photo shoot, because she was meditating before she got there!"
"You think the double image of Diane on the photo has something to do with her meditating?" Tomas asks.
"Most likely! Every time she meditates, strange things seem to follow her! But yet she tells everyone in the room the reason why she kept looking off camera to the side is because of a fly flying around her face?! She knew there was no fly in that room! She was just trying to cover herself because she knew what was going on! Wait till I see her again! I'm going to have a word with her about meditating behind our backs and trying to cover it up!" Margarita presses a button on her desk phone. She then shouts into the phone, "Evette, can you tell Diane to come into my office?! Tell her that her family wants to see her, nooow!"
"She's still rehearsing inside the Banquet Room Miss Margarita," Evette's voice says.
"She is?"
"Yes."
"Nevermind, we'll come to her!"
"Okay."
"Thanks Evette!" Margarita presses the button again.
Fifteen minutes later, Diane D's family is scolding her inside the Banquet room as Diane D shouts to them, "I only meditated for a few minutes!"
"But your grandparents told you that you're not allowed to meditate at all!" Barry shouts.
"I know they told me that Dad!"
"So why are you still doing it?!
"I needed it to help boost my energy!"
"To help boost your energy?!" Mary shouts. "You need meditation to help boost your energy?!"
"Yeah."
"Look Diane," Margarita says. "I'm only going to say this one more time! No more meditating, you got that?!"
"But Grandma, I was meditating at Grandma Gracy's!"
"Ohhh so you think that makes it okay to meditate behind our backs because you did that over there?! No it doesn't!"
"Look Diane!" Tomas shouts. "It doesn't matter where it is you meditate at! We don't care if it's in the grocery store, we don't care if it's in the movie theater, we don't care if it's in here at the organization and we certainly don't care WHOSE HOUSE it's 50
in! No more meditation for you! Do you understand?!"
"But Grandpa...!" Diane D shouts.
"No more meditating!"
"But Grandpa...!"
"No more meditating Diane! Do you understand?!"
Diane D sadly looks at Tomas. She then says, "Yes Grandpa."
"Good! Now we're gonna have you work upstairs in the office!"
"Work upstairs?"
"Yes, starting right now!"
"So let's get going Diane!" Margarita shouts. "Move it!"
Diane D sadly looks at Margarita. She turns and grabs her belongs. She then heads towards the doorway as Margarita, Tomas, Barry and Mary follow her.