Raquel gasped and slapped Emilia's arm playfully as her older sister just giggled.
That's when the playful slap caused an unfortunate turn of events. It had loosened the already loosely held camera in her sister's hands, and the bulky camera plummeted to the floor. Raquel gasped, worried the older device would break, and as it hit the ground it landed just enough on the primary button.
"Whoops, sorry!" Emilia was able to mutter just as the camera went off.
FLASH
"Geez kiddo, you coulda broken it!" Emilio huffed, reaching down to pick up the polaroid.
“I'm sorry I was reaching for it Papa... I just wanted to play with it!” Raquel apologized quickly to her tall father..
The camera had changed the girls into a middle aged, chubby Hispanic man and his cute little daughter, no older than 5. The Reality Change setting was still on and the Awareness setting was still set to off despite the fall, meaning the two didn’t remember their previous lives as sisters Emilia and Raquel. What they did recall was walking into Dick's sporting goods to buy a new pair of cleats for Raquel's big brother, Edward, and then they were gonna see if they could pawn the old camera Raquel had found for a quick buck.
"Well mija, this is not a toy!" He grumbled, fixing the slight plumbers crack he had gotten bending down.
Raquel looked to her feet defeated, her curly black hair obscuring her face which only made her look more upset.
Emilio saw this and sighed.
"Ok mija, how about this. If I let you hold onto this before we drop it off, do you promise to be muy muy careful?" He asked.
Raquel looked up with her dimpled grin, showing the hole where her left front tooth used to be as she smiled fully.
"Sí Papa! Sí, I promise!" Raquel happily jumped.
"Ok, well, please do not lose it." He sighed as he handed the polaroid over to his daughter.
Emilio grabbed the pair of cleats he had selected and started walking towards the counter. Raquel followed right behind, ecstatic to finally be holding the pretty camera again. She looked it over with a grin, marveling at just how nice it looked. She also loved to take pictures with it since it actually made a real one for her to keep!
Raquel glanced up at her father, and made sure he was busy and not looking. To her delight, he was on his phone, waiting impatiently on the exit line. He grumbled, trying not to look at an annoying couple who were giggling nonstop in front of him. He tried not to let his temper get the best of him, although he still wanted to yank out the obviously fake redhead's extensions.
Raquel's smile went from happy to devious in the turn of a second, and began searching for potential photo ops.
She spotted a fun picture, as a blonde Mother was walking a toddler in a stroller with her older son running around them.
FLASH
Raquel looked up just to make sure that her father hadn't noticed the flash, and to her relief he had not. The photo came out and she quietly giggled at the three older black women looking obviously lost as they searched for something.
"Cute, I bet they wanna get something for their sons! Just like me and Papa getting something for Ed!" Raquel thought gleefully.
Raquel looked around again, and saw a boy she recognized from school. Her face scrunched as she recognized him as Todd Jenson, the annoying redheaded boy who always tugged on her hair. "I'll take a picture of him then draw all over it." She thought with a chuckled as she took the picture.
FLASH
She watched as her friend Tina Tanaka walked out of the store beside her mother. Tina was super nice to Raquel, and she interested her too. Tina said her parents moved here from some place called Japan, which made Raquel happy since her Mommy came from somewhere she too, though her mommy's place was called Mexico.
"I can't wait to tell her I saw her and then show her this." Raquel thought to herself, sniffling more giggles.
She was going to take more when she realized someone was coming up behind them. She worried they might tattle on her so she held the camera close and quietly slipped her new pictures in her overall's pockets. The line went fairly quickly after that, her Papa paid for the cleats and the two went on their way.
"Hey mija, I'm so proud of you." Emilio told Raquel as he patted her head.
"Really? Por que?" She asked.
"Because, you haven't dropped the camera at all, or asked for any help since it's a little grande." He chuckled. "Like your old man no?" He laughed, patting his chubby waist.
"Hehe." Raquel giggled. "Thanks Papa, I just wish we didn't have to leave it." She sighed.
Emilio felt bad, but knew it could be worth a lot. Their family wasn't exactly struggling, but they could certainly always use more money to help out. He thought for a moment before looking back down at her.
"Hey kiddo, how about we go to one more place before we sell it ok? Your choice?" He asked.
"Okay!" Raquel happily agreed. "How about..."