“How about we get some dumplings after we’ve seen Simon?” It felt right to start the next phase of life with a celebration. They might be the last dumplings they had in a while.

The little bell jingled as Kelly stepped past Daniel and the wall full of frames opposite the shelves of cameras. She enveloped Simon in a hug when he stepped out from behind the counter.

“It’s wonderful to see you, too, Kelly.”

“I’ve got something to show you.” She reached into her handbag and pulled out a sheet of paper bearing a bright purple logo. “I closed it.” She tore the bank statement in two and threw both halves into the air.

Tears glistened in Simon’s eyes. “You’ve accepted your truth. Now you’re on a happier path.” To Kelly’s left, the slightest movement—the fluttering of butterfly wings. In the ornate gold frame, the bright purple sitting on top of her now-grayed suitcase drained of color before the entire picture dematerialized, leaving just a blank sheet of glossy white paper.

Daniel strode to a large pine frame at the far end of the wall. He stood before it as the front cover of his book evaporated. Relief washed over him as his secret was replaced by a curly-headed young man hurling a remote control at a basketball game on TV, a fierce desperation in his eyes.

Simon wiped the tears from his cheeks. “I’m so proud of both of you. Where is Gramps’s camera, Daniel?”

“It’s on my desk at home, and it’s taken no more photos.”

“Perhaps the camera has revealed its truth for you. Maybe you need to give it to someone who needs it as much as you did.”

He smiled at Kelly. They’d discussed that very thing an hour earlier.

“I must admit, I did toy again with the idea of using the camera in my counseling sessions, thinking it could help me cut to the chase with those people who sit in front of me in flat-out denial.”

“And how did that work out when you tried it?”

“It’s just disappointing not being able to use such a powerful tool to help people be honest with themselves.”

“Well, Daniel, even when you were faced with the truth, your life turned around only when you accepted it. When you decided to come clean with those around you.”

A low-burning flame within him that had started with the tiniest spark flared into life, fanned by his imagination. He could share his story of hiding secrets and working through the process of revealing them.

On paper.

In book two.