Written as a response to the Muse on Monday prompt for June 1, 2026: Write a story about something caught on camera

The Cameraman

The man held the phone steady, filming the trio of thirteen-year-olds sitting in the booth across the McDonalds dining area. They were talking and laughing, completely in their own little world. He zoomed in a little, trying to be surreptitious. He didn’t want any of the patrons to see what he was doing. They might get the wrong idea.

The girls evidently decided it was time to go. They picked up their backpacks and emptied their trays into the garbage. The man waited a moment, then got up, too. As he walked, he held the phone up to his face, moving his thumbs as if he were one of those people who texted and walked at the same time, not the much more suspicious kind who filmed as he walked. He should have gotten a GoPro and maybe one of those pairs of glasses with a camera in them. Did they still have those?

The girls were fifty feet ahead when he got outside, walking along the sidewalk with the bouncing gait of too much youthful energy. The man paused as a woman gave him a weird look. A police car drove by. Did it slow down a little? The man was starting to sweat.

The girls turned into an alley and disappeared from view. The man tried to hurry after them, keeping the camera steady. He turned into the alley after them. The girls were standing thirty feet in, their backs to him. The man crept towards them.

He was ten feet away when the girls turned. Two of the girls screamed. The third burst into laughter. The screaming stopped.

“Callie! You’re supposed to be scared,” the girl in the middle said.

“I’m sorry, I’m just nervous.” The girl giggled.

The man stopped filming. “What do you want to do, Ava?”

“Let me see.” Ava took the phone and played back the footage. “We might have to do another take.”

“I don’t know, honey,” the man said. “I’m getting pretty jumpy doing this for you. I want to help you with your film project, but if anyone notices, they’re going to get the wrong idea. Can we at least film openly?”

“But then people will be looking at us. It won’t seem natural.” Ava looked at the phone screen again and tapped her chin. “How about this: Callie kind of still looks like she’s screaming without the sound. Maybe we can dub in the screams later. We’ll do the forest scene next. There won’t be any people there.”

“Thanks, dear,” the man said. “I trust your creative vision, I just get nervous.”

Ava hugged him. “I appreciate you, Dad. You’re the best cameraman ever.”