The Plantation Project

1.

Caleb

I shut my laptop down and inhaled deeply. It was almost midnight and I had been at this since afternoon. Clicking pictures was the easy part, editing them to perfection was what set photographers apart from each other.

It was tough work but the end results were completely worth it. I stood up and stretched my cramped body. I could almost feel my muscles returning back to their positions with relief after hours of sitting in one place.

The street lights were streaming in through the balcony into the room. It was almost midnight but Paris was still alive and bustling. I could hear voices floating up from the street below.

I walked into the balcony and shivered as the night air caressed my skin. The lights of the Eiffel tower glimmered in the distance, a beautiful sight against the dark sky.

My hotel was quite far from the tower. I had no interest in staying in one of those ridiculously expensive hotels whose every window provided a suffocatingly close up view of the structure.

They made it seem like Paris was nothing but a tower.  That all its art, it's beautiful lanes with hidden cafes, it's catacombs, its history meant nothing. Unfortunately Paris was becoming more commercial day by day, it was losing its charm as a haven for art.

Most photographers came to Paris to capture the Eiffel tower or the majestic Louvre or the Arc de Triomphe. Those places were just not my type. I had gone to all of them as a tourist but never as a photographer.

One of my most favourite districts in Paris was Montmartre, a beautiful quaint neighborhood filled with local artists making street art. It was also a wonderful place to capture sunrises from.

The voices in the street below were getting louder and I peeked down. Two guys, a lot younger than me, were engaged in a very heated make out session. They were surrounded by some other boys and girls who were cheering and hollering at them.

I smirked and shook my head. Teenagers I swear. They were the same everywhere. One of the boys from the group suddenly looked up at me and our eyes met. He was a good looking fellow with black hair and what seemed to be blue eyes.

A suggestive smile played at his lips and he winked. I held back the laughter that was threatening to burst out. I was flattered but this boy was way too young to do anything for me.

I shook my head and he pouted in disappointment. He looked so adorable down there that I had a sudden urge to go and give the boy a hug. I settled for a smile and went back into the room.

Tonight was my last night in the city of love. My flight left tomorrow morning, to a place I thought I would never ever return to.