The Photo Jumper

My secret life revealed

I was ten years old when I first discovered my superpower. If that is what it is. I’m not quite sure. My power isn’t something people expect when they hear superpower. It’s not flying or shooting fire out of my eyes or being invisible. But I can… You know what, let’s not spoil the surprise. Here is how it happened.

It was a Saturday, and my Dad had returned from the drug store with the photos from our vacation. After everyone had their turn looking at them, my mother put them into a photo album. I asked her if I could look at the album, and she said, “Sure, Sweetie.”

I took the photo album to my bedroom and started looking at the pictures. There was one picture of the beach I thought was cool. It was a view down the beach with lots of people. As I was staring at it, I started to think about that day.

Suddenly I was there at the beach. It wasn’t a daydream, I was physically there. So was everyone else. My entire family and all the people in the photograph.

I ran over to my mother and said, “Mom, how did we get here?”

“You know how. We walked from the hotel room. Are you feeling alright?”

“But I was just in my room looking at a photo of the beach, and suddenly I was here.”

“Come sit under the umbrella and have a drink of water.”

“I’m not imagining it.”

“What you are saying is impossible, Sebastian. You must be imagining it.”

I realized there was no point in arguing with a grown-up, so I just sat there amazed. I wondered if I would be able to get back to my own time and place. I couldn’t imagine how. I figured I would probably have to relive the past two weeks. It could be worse. I could have looked at a photo of myself as a toddler.

As I sat there, I saw my Dad pick up the camera to take a photo. I took the plastic sand bucket lying next to our blanket and put it upside down in the sand. If I could get back to my own time and the bucket was turned upside down in the photo, I would know this was real.

I spent the rest of the day playing. There was no point in letting a day at the beach go to waste. That night we returned to the hotel and settled in. I couldn’t sleep. I laid awake with my mind trying to figure out if that day was imagined, or if jumping into the photo was imagined. Or if it was all really happening. Eventually, I fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up in my bedroom. The photo album was lying next to me. I quickly opened it and looked at the photo of the beach. Sure enough, the sand bucket was upside down in the sand. I didn’t imagine it. I had gone into the photograph and changed it.

That made me wonder if the changes I make in a photo would affect real life or just the picture. The bucket didn’t answer that question since we took the bucket home both times.

I would have to try again to see if I could change something that would affect the present time. So I stared at the beach photo again.

Soon I was back at the beach. This time, I took the sand bucket and scratched my name on it with the bottle opener my Mom brought. I spent another day at the beach. I could get used to this, I thought.

I woke up back in my room again. I jumped out of bed, ran to the garage, and dug through the beach stuff until I found the bucket. My name was scratched on the side.

I had to sit down. I was sure my parent still wouldn’t believe me, and I figured it was probably better if they didn’t know anyway. For now, at least. I had some experimenting to do, and I didn’t need them telling me it was too dangerous.

Thus began my new life as a superhero. I initially considered charging people to go into their photos and fix mistakes. But who would believe me when I told them what I could do? And imagine the demand if the truth got out. I wouldn’t be safe. I knew I would have to discover a need and then go fix it in secret.

Money became a non-issue. It is quite easy to beat the stock market when you know who the winners are before you buy stock.

I am not sure if I really qualify as a superhero since no one knows about my abilities. But I can enter into photos and visit the day and place of the photo for a day. Actually, that is not technically correct. I can stay until I fall asleep. Then I always wake up back where I started when I was looking at the photo.

I started calling myself The Photo Jumper, although I don’t really jump. But The Photo Enterer doesn’t have the same ring.

My next photo jump was quite different…