Sprawled out on my back, looking at the scattered clouds, Ava told me about the animals. The sky truly was beautiful today. Each puff in the sky looked like a different creature, as if God had run out of space on the ground and so stuck them up there instead.

“I just really want to make sure I get a great picture. That’s all I need.” Ava told me. That was her life, after all. Going about, taking these beautiful pictures. Lots of animals and plants. She really had a good eye for them, too. And, secretly, she knew it. But she didn’t want to seem cocky, so she downplayed herself very often.

“It would be so cool to win that contest! And the deadline is coming up this weekend so this really is my last shot… Oh god, I’m nervous. What if I don’t win it?” I took a deep breath.

Ava could be like this sometimes. Well, most of the time. She was pretty high-strung, I mean. She worked really hard at everything she did, and she did really well at it all. But that never really stopped the stress.

“Ava, come lie next to me. Please.” I told her. My eyes were closed by now, but I could feel her join me on the ground. “Isn’t it beautiful?” She scoffed at me.

“Harper, can you please be a bit more focused? This is really important to me.” I opened my eyes and looked at her.

“I am focused. I’m just not stressed out about it. There’s a difference.” I closed my eyes again.

“Well I really need to win this contest, and I’m not going to win it by lying on the grass.”

“Why’s that?” I sat up now. “You could win it with any picture. If you just took some pretty picture of a cloud, that could win it. It doesn’t really matter what you take the picture of. It can be a blade of grass or a house fire. Something simple or something serious. Besides,” I said as I lay back down, “it’s a gorgeous view.”

She stood up and told me to follow her. I didn’t really want to leave, but if I didn’t stay with her she’d push herself over a cliff. Since that wasn’t what either of us needed, I jumped up and went with her.

We were walking at about a thousand miles an hour, give or take. I couldn’t stand it. She didn’t even know what she was taking a picture of. I tried pointing out a few pretty flowers, but she would take a picture of it and move on. I don’t think that should count as a picture. A picture is supposed to be an experience. Sure, it might be worth a thousand words, but sometimes, nature just deserves your silence.

We passed a bird’s nest that had three eggs in it, so I told Ava to come back. She took a quick shot and started to walk away when I grabbed her arm.

“Jesus Harper, what is it? We have to move.”

“Why? Ava, this is supposed to be a nature contest, right? But you aren’t even in nature right now. You’re living inside a little box, looking at images on a screen when they’re right there in front of you.” One of the eggs started to move, and she immediately readied her camera. I put my hand out and pushed the camera down. She started to protest, but I told her to look.

“You’re here right now. The reason a picture is special is because people wish they could’ve seen it for themselves.” A crack appeared in the shell. “This right here, this is life. You can take a picture of it, or you can be there. You can’t feel a breeze on a Kodak. You can’t hear the birds chirping around you. When you take a picture, it’s important to make sure that you get to be in the moment, too.” A small head poked out. “A flower is one thing. That isn’t going to change. But you can’t take a picture of this and just move on. Sometimes, it’s more important to just put the camera down and watch it for yourself.”

Ava was silent. She watched as the bird hatched from the egg and cried out. We backed up and crouched behind a bush so the mother would come. Then, we just sat. Once we were still, birds had started singing again. The sun was shining through the leaves, sending a green filter through the room.

After a while we started walking again. We didn’t say much, and that was good. She didn’t take as many pictures, thankfully. Once we were in a clearing, she stopped and looked at me.

“I’m sorry that I was being so stressed. But you’re right. It’s important to just be here.” I smiled. “I still really like taking pictures, and I’m definitely not going to stop. But I think that once you look up, there’s just so many more things to see. I mean that sounds obvious, I guess, but still.” She laughed, and so did I, but I knew what she meant.

I think it’s really important to just be out there in the world. Instead of taking pictures the whole time, it’s good to be selfish and keep some of the moments to yourself. Nobody really goes out to just sit there. Instead, we obsess over cameras or phones. And that’s assuming we even make it outside. So rather than just using technology, we should just watch nature take its course. That means going outside randomly. Even when you’re in the middle of