Horror Story Pictures Reflection
I chose to take darker photos to set a better mood for the story. Most of my photos were taken of the subject matter being the focus of the picture. Some of my photos relate directly to the story such as the picture of "rusty tracks illuminated by the full moon just barely peeked out from overgrown grass" and also "a silver pocket watch with a gold encrusted train insignia on the cover." But some are also less literal like the picture of 3 grave stones and the newspaper. Most of my images were manipulated using Photoshop CS3 to lower the brightness of a lot of them. The reason I wanted to lower the brightness is because most of the pictures were taken during the day time and to acquire the night setting placed by the author of the story I needed to darken them. I believe that my pictures represented the story I had frankly because I was the one of the people who took part in writing the story so I took into account where I could take pictures and added those elements into my writing.
Twenty Tons of Steel
Jimmy’s Grandfather pulled out a silver pocket watch with a gold encrusted train insignia on the cover. He said he always kept it on his person and it never left his side. The Grandfather went on to say that he had it custom made when he was younger due to his fascination with trains. The haze of the fog had settled in while Jimmy’s Grandfather proceeded in recounting the folklore of the infamous “Death Valley Box Car.” Chills ran down each of the three children’s spines and the story was just beginning. Jimmy and Charlie, cringing at the vivid details portrayed by the Grandfather, were horrified that a once pleasant thought of a train ride could instantly turn into a nightmare. The Grandfather wrapped up the folklore with the tragic ending that none of the three children had been seen again. Jimmy and Charlie promised each other that they would never take a train again out of good humor but Michael did not feel the same. He felt that this was the perfect scenario for an adventure.
As Jimmy’s Grandfather slumped back in his chair snoring like a bear, the three boys found themselves bored with little to do. Michael being a few years older than the other two boys who were 8, He constantly found himself being sufficiently annoyed with their loud and obnoxious antics. Jimmy, Charlie, and Michael were the “Three Amigos” since they were young due to the fact that they live in a rural part of their town with few kids around. Their parents worked at the same place that often caused them to work long tedious hours leaving the children under the care of Jimmy’s Grandfather, who volunteered to supervise them. This was often carried out with a story and a long snooze on the old burgundy colored arm chair for the Grandfather.
Michael was intrigued by the abandoned box car and decided to drag his two friends on a quest to find it. After a lot of opposition by the two younger boys, Michael finally got his way and off they went. The woods behind Jimmy’s house lead to one of the longest railroad tracks in the state, so they found there was no better place for them to start looking but there. As the boys, all in their pajamas, trekked through the forest, they could hear twigs crunch, leaves rustle, and branches move behind them. Each time they heard a noise, they’d look back to find nothing there. Nearing the edge of the woods they saw the source of the myth. The rusty tracks illuminated by the full moon just barely peeked out from overgrown grass. The ball of anxiety filled the boy’s chests as they recounted the story. In the near distance, a glimmer of shiny metal caught their eyes and the anxiety slowly transitioned into a feeling of fascination. Like kids in a candy store, one by one, they ran to the object to investigate the mysterious glimmer. Michael, being the bravest of the three, removed some of the brush and vines to unveil some sort of letter combination on the side. The other two boys rushed over to help Michael remove the mass of foliage engulfing the object. They took a step back to try and see the name on the side utilizing the light of the full moon. Charlie read out loud, “Death Valley Central Railroad.”
The boys were taken aback from the lettering and looked at each other with a mix of excitement and fear. The one thought running through the boy’s minds was the name, Death Valley. Charlie pleaded with Michael and Jimmy to let him go home. Michael and Jimmy began calling him names. Charlie, wanting to fit in, eventually followed the boys to a small opening at one end of the train. Jimmy recognized it was a door and tried to pry open the rusted latch. Clearly, this was not a car in commission due to the years of neglect. The door managed to budge allowing the boys to slip into the car and peruse around a bit. The light was dim only coming in through the small opening in the door. The light was shining in a particular corner of the car and Charlie saw a small spherical shape lying on the dusty floor. Charlie picked the object up and noticed it was a small pocket watch just like his Grandfather had. There were large bales of hay piled up and Charlie sat down to take a closer look at the watch. He called over the other two boys so they could see what he had found. Charlie said, “Hey Michael and Jimmy isn’t this your…” A loud bang interrupted Charlie mid-speech. The door to the train slammed shut and the locking latch engaged. The boys ran to the door and began to claw at the edges in desperation. The car lurched forward and the stood still as they heard the vegetation, that had built up around the car, be ripped of the walls. The boys could not piece this together, the lurch forward, the vines being ripped off. Jimmy finally figured it out and mumbled under his breathe “we are moving...” The three boys began to bang on the walls of the train car and scream at the top of their lungs as it picked up speed. They were trapped, nowhere to run, and no idea where the train car was going.
“The Search for the Missing Boys Turns up Nothing” next week’s headline read, The parents of the young boys left answerless. The FBI and CIA turned no leads and no evidence of the 3 boys anywhere.
(10 Years later)
As John and Billy, 2 local high school students made their way through the brush in the middle of the night, Billy spotted something though the mass of vines and weeds on the tracks. “whoa, what’s that over there John?!” They cleared of some over-growth and made out the words “Death Valley Central Railroad”....
Jimmy’s Grandfather pulled out a silver pocket watch with a gold encrusted train insignia on the cover. He said he always kept it on his person and it never left his side. The Grandfather went on to say that he had it custom made when he was younger due to his fascination with trains. The haze of the fog had settled in while Jimmy’s Grandfather proceeded in recounting the folklore of the infamous “Death Valley Box Car.” Chills ran down each of the three children’s spines and the story was just beginning. Jimmy and Charlie, cringing at the vivid details portrayed by the Grandfather, were horrified that a once pleasant thought of a train ride could instantly turn into a nightmare. The Grandfather wrapped up the folklore with the tragic ending that none of the three children had been seen again. Jimmy and Charlie promised each other that they would never take a train again out of good humor but Michael did not feel the same. He felt that this was the perfect scenario for an adventure.
As Jimmy’s Grandfather slumped back in his chair snoring like a bear, the three boys found themselves bored with little to do. Michael being a few years older than the other two boys who were 8, He constantly found himself being sufficiently annoyed with their loud and obnoxious antics. Jimmy, Charlie, and Michael were the “Three Amigos” since they were young due to the fact that they live in a rural part of their town with few kids around. Their parents worked at the same place that often caused them to work long tedious hours leaving the children under the care of Jimmy’s Grandfather, who volunteered to supervise them. This was often carried out with a story and a long snooze on the old burgundy colored arm chair for the Grandfather.
Michael was intrigued by the abandoned box car and decided to drag his two friends on a quest to find it. After a lot of opposition by the two younger boys, Michael finally got his way and off they went. The woods behind Jimmy’s house lead to one of the longest railroad tracks in the state, so they found there was no better place for them to start looking but there. As the boys, all in their pajamas, trekked through the forest, they could hear twigs crunch, leaves rustle, and branches move behind them. Each time they heard a noise, they’d look back to find nothing there. Nearing the edge of the woods they saw the source of the myth. The rusty tracks illuminated by the full moon just barely peeked out from overgrown grass. The ball of anxiety filled the boy’s chests as they recounted the story. In the near distance, a glimmer of shiny metal caught their eyes and the anxiety slowly transitioned into a feeling of fascination. Like kids in a candy store, one by one, they ran to the object to investigate the mysterious glimmer. Michael, being the bravest of the three, removed some of the brush and vines to unveil some sort of letter combination on the side. The other two boys rushed over to help Michael remove the mass of foliage engulfing the object. They took a step back to try and see the name on the side utilizing the light of the full moon. Charlie read out loud, “Death Valley Central Railroad.”
The boys were taken aback from the lettering and looked at each other with a mix of excitement and fear. The one thought running through the boy’s minds was the name, Death Valley. Charlie pleaded with Michael and Jimmy to let him go home. Michael and Jimmy began calling him names. Charlie, wanting to fit in, eventually followed the boys to a small opening at one end of the train. Jimmy recognized it was a door and tried to pry open the rusted latch. Clearly, this was not a car in commission due to the years of neglect. The door managed to budge allowing the boys to slip into the car and peruse around a bit. The light was dim only coming in through the small opening in the door. The light was shining in a particular corner of the car and Charlie saw a small spherical shape lying on the dusty floor. Charlie picked the object up and noticed it was a small pocket watch just like his Grandfather had. There were large bales of hay piled up and Charlie sat down to take a closer look at the watch. He called over the other two boys so they could see what he had found. Charlie said, “Hey Michael and Jimmy isn’t this your…” A loud bang interrupted Charlie mid-speech. The door to the train slammed shut and the locking latch engaged. The boys ran to the door and began to claw at the edges in desperation. The car lurched forward and the stood still as they heard the vegetation, that had built up around the car, be ripped of the walls. The boys could not piece this together, the lurch forward, the vines being ripped off. Jimmy finally figured it out and mumbled under his breathe “we are moving...” The three boys began to bang on the walls of the train car and scream at the top of their lungs as it picked up speed. They were trapped, nowhere to run, and no idea where the train car was going.
“The Search for the Missing Boys Turns up Nothing” next week’s headline read, The parents of the young boys left answerless. The FBI and CIA turned no leads and no evidence of the 3 boys anywhere.
(10 Years later)
As John and Billy, 2 local high school students made their way through the brush in the middle of the night, Billy spotted something though the mass of vines and weeds on the tracks. “whoa, what’s that over there John?!” They cleared of some over-growth and made out the words “Death Valley Central Railroad”....