Negative

by Michelle Wright

Seven months after Mum’s death, Dad bought a 1968 Leica and turned their ensuite into a darkroom.

“A positive sign,” said my brother.

Until then, during our weekly visits Dad would slump in his recliner, speaking in monosyllables; mostly sitting in silence. Now he locked himself away, developing black and white images of the strangers he photographed on suburban streets. He hung the strips of negatives from clothes lines strung across his bedroom. They formed long bars of faces, like a curtain we could see through but couldn’t cross; like the plastic strips hung in doorways to keep out flies.

Before we left each Sunday evening, we’d stand in the hallway to say goodbye. He wouldn’t answer, but we’d see his face behind the negatives, his eyes straining through the black and silver shapes. We weren’t sure if he even printed the photographs. We never saw them anyway.

His death,unlike Mum’s, was sudden. A heart attack. We waited a month before touching the undeveloped roll of film sitting by the bathroom sink. We studied the instructions, assembled all the equipment and, in total darkness, transferred the film to the developing tank. With the lights back on we poured the liquids in, one after the other, waiting until the process was complete.

When the film was ready, we wiped the excess moisture from the long, thin strip and pegged it up to dry. We didn’t recognise the faces straight away. It’s harder than you think on a negative. It was my brother who said, “That’s us.” Thirty-six exposures, taken from a distance; from across the hall, through the half-open ensuite door. Some of us together. Some just my brother or me. Sitting. Standing. Staring into space. Missing Mum. Silently waiting for Dad to emerge from the dark

About the Author

Michelle Wright lives in Melbourne, Australia. Her short stories and flash fiction have won and been shortlisted in numerous awards, including The Age Short Story Award, V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize and Bridport Prize. They have been published in Australia and internationally. Her short story collection, Fine, was published in 2016. Her first novel, Small Acts of Defiance, was published in Australia in 2021 and US in 2022. Her second novel, Good Boy, will be out in April 2026.