SPIDER-MAN

Chapter 4: 4) Old Camera



Peter followed Uncle Ben down the hallway after locking the door, placing the key on the small table next to the living room entrance taking his shoes off, and positioning them on the rack. Down the hall were stairs leading to the next floor and the floor was laid with an old and dated red carpet. Peter walked towards the table that sat in the living room and placed his backpack on it. It was an old dark wooden table with an equally old set of four wooden chairs placed around it and a large window behind it with white curtains. On the table stood a small white cloth that held a glass bowl of fruits, a couple of cotton coaster mats, and a clear vase with a mix of bright flowers in the middle. 

Peter walked past the leather couch that faced an old but quite big TV that was maintained up on a wooden TV stand with loads of old DVDs placed in storage and entered the kitchen. 

Aunt May was in the kitchen cooking some pasta on her little stove and below it, the oven had a small red and white lined towel placed on its handle. Separated from the kitchen counter was the sink which had a cupboard underneath that held all the chemical products like soap and wipes. Above the counter was an extensive row of cupboards that had all the spices, biscuits, and everything savory. In its little area near the door was the fridge. 

"Hi, Aunt May" announced Peter.

Aunt May turned around, smiled a little, and replied "Hello Peter, a good day at school today" while stirring her boiling pot. 

"It was alright, we did some fun stuff in physics today" replied Peter.

"That's nice. Did you get the eggs by the way dear" questioned Aunt May. 

"Yeah, I got them. Just give me a sec and let me get them from my bag" Peter replied while he slightly scrambled back to his bag and took out the eggs. He came back and placed it in the fridge.

"Thank you very much, Peter. Now go get changed dinner will be ready soon alright" Aunt May replied and looked at him for a second. Using this Uncle Ben took a glimpse over the pot and got quickly shooed away. "You will wait like everyone else alright. It'll be ready soon anyway". 

"Alright, alright" Uncle Ben responded while walking to his couch and gradually sitting down to watch some TV. 

Peter exited the kitchen with a slight smile and picked up his bag before heading upstairs to his room which was at the end of the landline. He opened the door and placed his bag near his study desk. His room had a small bed in the far corner and a small wardrobe in the other corner. He had plain white sheets and covers for his bed and normal curtains covering his small little window. He had a small little bookshelf that had a bunch of picture frames with him and his grandparents, some study books, and comics. He had science posters plastered on his wall and an Iron Man poster. Peter always liked how Tony Stark changed the future of technology and he felt somewhat inspired by him, even if he didn't like his personality a lot. He also loads of Polaroids blue-tacked to the wall with him and Harry, monuments, wildlife, and one of Mary Jane he took for his middle school paper. 

Peter got changed into a pair of grey joggers and a slightly small blue shirt. He went back to his bag and quickly pulled out the field trip letter before scurrying down the stairs and sitting on the dining room table. At this point, both Aunt May and Uncle Ben were already seated with warm plates of pasta bolognese and Uncle Ben with his Uncle of the Year coffee mug. Peter set the letter on the table and spoke "Aunt May, I was wondering if next week Monday I could go on this trip to the bioengineering lab at OSCORP. My teacher said it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"That's fine by me Peter, I'll make sure to sign it after dinner" replied Aunt May before digging back into her meal. 

The rest of the night continued as normal, the three ate their meal while talking about a variety of things from work, school, and even movies. After around 45 minutes they all finished eating and Peter began to take all the plates and cutlery into the kitchen to clean. 

"Oh it's fine Peter, I can do the dishes tonight," said Aunt May who was preparing to get up from her seat. 

"No, it's ok. I'll do them" assured Peter as he started to turn on the sink. 

"If you say so" Aunt May responded and Uncle Ben made himself comfy on his couch and turned on the TV

After finishing the dishes and placing them on the rack he walked through the living room, turned off the TV, and placed the remote back on the armrest. Uncle Ben was slouched and snoring on his couch and didn't turn off the TV again like he usually does. He walked up the creaky stairs and went back into his room and studied on his little chair and desk for a while. 

Eventually, he made a little mistake and needed his rubber, so he opened his little drawer and there it was. His camera. Instead of taking out the rubber he held up his camera slowly and rubbed a little dust of it. He recalled what Harry said to him during lunch today and decided he would finish the job. He stood up and took out the toolbox he had in his room, he always liked making and fixing things. He cleaned up his desk prepared to fix his old camera, went back downstairs to take some of the old film from the fridge headed back upstairs, and placed it on the side of his desk out of the way. 

After around an hour of messing with wires and replacing dysfunctioning parts with spares, he had laid around his little tub of spare parts. Eventually, he screwed the camera back in place and fixed up his glasses. He inserted the film pack into the camera made sure everything was ready and brought it up to his left eye closing his right. He carefully placed his finger on the red button on the front making sure to not get his finger in the way of the camera and pressed it. The camera made its zzzzz sounds before popping out a photo. He let it rest for around 5 seconds before rolling back the film seal and taking a look. 

It worked. After a while, the photo off his wall became more and more clear and a large smile was on Peter's face. A couple of quiet knocks whizzed from his door.

"Go to sleep, Peter. You've still got school tomorrow and it's almost midnight". ordered Aunt May. 

Peter looked at his clock and realized it was 11:41. He didn't notice how long it took him to fix the camera and lost track of time "Sorry, I'll go to bed now" Peter groggily replied. 

"And don't forget to brush your teeth" Retorted Aunt May before slowly waddling back into her bedroom. 

Peter got up from his chair and quickly brushed his teeth, changed into his pajamas, and lay in his bed gaping at the ceiling. He set his glasses on his bedside table and gradually drifted off into sleep. 


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