The Little Death

By Dawn Buckner

Simon is a controversial photographer who wants to get the "perfect shot". He wants to capture that moment right before dying, that moment he calls "the little death." 

Mimi is a model that wants immortality. Becoming obsessed with Simon's work, she offers herself to be the model for his next project. She soon realizes, however, that while she is obsessed with his art, he is obsessed with death...and wants to make one last piece of art before he succumbs to his own terminal illness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DayBac Publishing
• Release date: Oct 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386955955

Book preview

DAWN BUCKNER

CHAPTER ONE

The models looked like death.

As usual, Simon's assistant Akira did a good job of applying the make-up. Simon had hired three models, all women in their mid-twenties for the zombie photo shoot.

Akira placed minimal make-up on the model's faces, instead concentrating on a peeling flesh effect on their arms, torso and legs.

The women thought the shoot was some sort of homage to the Walking Dead. But Simon wanted something else. He wanted to shoot something that transcended death. That would make the viewer feel their own mortality.

At thirty-nine years of age, Simon realized that he wouldn't live past forty. His physician diagnosed him with colon cancer nearly a year ago. He outlived the prognosis for the past five months.

But in the past couple of days things had gotten worse. He felt nauseated most of the time and had a cough that wouldn't go away. 

Akira had been a loyal friend. His top student from his teaching days in Tokyo, the man would follow Simon's direction without questioning it. He also had a hawk's eye for detail with the ability to extrapolate Simon's vision into something surreal.

Akira hung ropes from the studio ceiling, tying them to the wrists and necks of the models. This made them appear as if they were puppets on a string, pieces of dead meat being animated from a higher power. Akira then adjusted the lights, leaving the models partially covered in darkness.

Simon focused his lens and began shooting rapid fire.

Snikt! Snikt! Snikt!

His camera flashed across the room.

He circled around the models, getting every angle he could. He marveled at their ability to stare straight ahead without blinking.

I'm getting tired, one of the models said, the smallest one named Sarah.

You're supposed to be dead, Simon said, frustrated.

"My arm