The Camera of Prophecy

Note: I'm not the authour of this story. I've translated it from original Japanese into English. Please do NOT copy and paste it somewhere else on the web without my permission.


This is a cryptic story!


*********************************

I bought a camera which was supposed to be able to photograph "a person's appearance ten years  from now."

I took a photo of myself for fun, but the picture that came out had nothing in it.
'What? It's broken! lol'
Then I took a photo of a friend who happened to be nearby.
The picture that came out showed an image of him looking like a beggar.

Now I'm really worried about his future.

Comments

Zanyuki said…
The narrator would be nothing (ie. ashes) within 10 years? o_O
Hasumi said…
lol. the narrator should have been worried about his future instead.

i dont think i would dare to see what i will become in 10 years if i had something like that :p what are you gonna do if you had something like this, saya? hehe
ryuu said…
oh my... he doesn't have a future ten years from now meaning he dies early... that is sad, also he didn't think of himself first he must be a kindhearted person. oh and forgive me if i'm using wrong punctuation marks and grammars.:P
I took a photo of myself for fun, but the picture that came out had nothing in it.
'What? It's broken! lol'

no dear, you're gonna die soon.
KC said…
That person must be a "she".
@Zanyuki: something like that!

@Mimi: your huge eyes! lol

@Hasumi: no dear, I would throw away the camera!

@ryuu: your English is very good, dear. Don't be so modest! It's sweet that you think he's a kind-hearted person, I've never heard someone comment like that :)

@Time Waits: Yep. lol
@KC oh? you think so??
ryuu said…
@KC - i didn't think of that, you might be right.^^

@SAYA - thank you for your kind words.^^
♡Princess♡ said…
Saya ~♡ I'm so so so happy that you are back! o(≧▽≦)o I'm a long time follower I'm so happy to read the creepy stories again! Yay(。’▽’。)ノ♡
@KC: I finally got what you mean after I read ryuu's second comment!lol

@Princess Pon: Hello dear Princess! Your smiley faces are cute! Thank you for coming and reading my stories ;) I'm glad you like my creepy stories!!
Diogo said…
Oh goodness no, narrator, it's not broken, it's not broken at all. It seems to work perfectly. It just means that you will no longer be alive ten years from now. XD
Rine said…
Oh my! I'd be pretty darn scared if this happened... I don't like knowing what's going to happen to me!! oAo
I think this person is either very kind or very dumb; thinking of their friend first!
Zanyuki said…
I'm a little obsessive-compulsive, but pardon me: just a suggestion, Saya. "prophesy" is the verb form of "prophecy", much as "advise" is the verb of "advice". :)

On a related note, this camera reminds me of the Camera Obscura on the Fatal Frame series. It doesn't predict the future, but it does see (and exorcise) ghosts!

Which brings me to a question: what is Shinto's view on human sacrifice, if any?
Adorably Dead said…
How very kind hearted to worry about his friend's future when yours shows nothing. 0_0
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR COMMENTS!

@Zanyuki: Thank you dear, I corrected the spelling. I really appreciate it!

I haven't heard many tales of human sacrifices related to Shintoism. I think there are certain times, such as in a time of natural disasters, or when constructing a new building, human sacrifices were made to appease gods or ensure good luck

There's a funny article I've found about "Human Pillars,"
the ancient Japanese's practice of sealing living people into buildings as sacrifices:
http://www.cracked.com/funny-7186-8-scary-japanese-urban-legends/
Zanyuki said…
@Saya

You're a Cracked reader too?! I love it. Yeah, I saw that. But if it's any consolation, it's not confined to Japan. In our country, there's this urban legend about a bridge that used the bodies and flesh of children as mortar, just as those people were used inside pillars. Supposedly, the bridge couldn't be erected because the spirits opposed its construction, and some genius decided that children would make a good sacrifice. Shortly after, as the urban legend goes, the bridge was successfully built and it still stands today.

Thank you for the answer, though. It just occurred to me because of Fatal Frame II (Project Zero in Japan), which was set against a backdrop of an ancient Shinto rite where a twin sister would need to be sacrificed to keep the mouth of hell shut, which was situated right beneath an isolated Japanese village. It sort of backfired and the entire village became a haunted place, a la Silent Hill.
@Zanyuki: I'm not a regular reader of that site, I just stumbled upon it the other day. Beg your pardon, but which country are you from, if you don't mind telling me? I

That urban legend of yours sounds gruesome!

I've never really meditated on the sacrifical rites in Japan before, but now you brought it up, I shall be looking into it, I'm sure! Thank you dear!
Zanyuki said…
@Saya

I'm basing the idea of Shinto sacrifices off popular media such as video games and TV shows, so they may not be entirely true. Shinto is a little noteworthy and peculiar (no offense meant), however, so no wonder there are a lot of stories about it. Unfortunately, some of these are either downright inaccurate or in the realm of wild fantasy.

I'm from the Philippines. :) The bridge in question is called the San Juanico Bridge, which was built in the early 70s.

How is your name written in Japanese characters? If I remember correctly 'saya' means the scabbard of a sword, right? If it is, it's awesome, considering in our language, 'saya' means either happiness or a traditional women's skirt. :)
Hasumi said…
Zanyuki's comment about your name, also makes me want to share the meaning of 'Saya' in my country.

in our language, 'Saya' means 'me'. now do you have any idea which language it is? :p
Zanyuki said…
@Hasumi

Indonesian? :)
@Zanyuki: you're from the Philippines? that's cool! Actually recently I'm getting alot of readers from the Philippines. But how come your English is so good? I'm impressed! Do people in the Philippines often use English to communicate? (sorry I'm ignorant!)

Saya is only a pseudonym, actually. "saya" can mean a sacabbard, but not always.
In Japan you get alot of people who have the same sounding names but with different Chinese characters applied to them.

Oh but I'm glad it means happiness in your language. It's after all just a random name I picked up.

@Hasumi: Is is Indonesian? I think another blog reader of mine might have told me once before?? I don't remember.

Zanyuki said…
@Saya
I may know who they are! :3 I'm spreading the love of your blog all the time. I used to run this message board and the thread I created about your blog is one of our most popular ones. Sadly, this was around 2009 or 2010 and the forum in question is already defunct, but the people who were both interested and creeped out by your stories are still avid readers of your site. When I posted the link of this blog on Facebook, for example, a LOT of people commented and visited again. :)

Woe to me if I'm not any good in English - as I'm a writer! Hahaha. Nah, seriously, I'm not as good as I advertise. I suffer from spelling mistakes and grammatical errors just like the next guy. And as for people here, not quite. We mostly use it in corporate and business settings, but very few people use it beyond that. I'm one of those, I guess. =))

I understand the same-sounding names/words but with totally different meanings when they're written. I'm a great fan of your language, Saya, and one of these days I really am going to take up a Japanese language course! :)

I wonder what your name really is...
@Zanyuki: wow really? It's a shame I didn't get to see your forum lol.

I notice a lot of people from the Philippines are flooding in to see my blog recently. Is that your doing? :D

Oh do not deprecate yourself so! You sound very sophisticated. Not many foreginers know that they can start a sentence with "woe to me" unless they read Shakespeare or something.lol

I feel exactly the same as you about myself. Has there ever been a day when I did not make some grammatical errors or spelling mistakes? Non, Monsieur. Non!
As ever, English language remains a kind of swamp to me, in which I will drown the moment I let my guard down.

Japanese is difficult, but someone as smart as you will find no problems in mastering it!

My real name is a name of a flower, and I love it! :)
Hasumi said…
@Zanyuki & Saya

haha you both got that right ! :D yes it's indonesian. and there's still loads of us who are into this blog and your stories, Saya.

oh and not forget to mention, yes, i think you're so skilled in english. both of you. supposed i could work up my english by wandering around and eye on all of these comments :p
ryuu said…
@SAYA - hmm.. let me guess it must be Sakura? it can't be cherry blossom^^ am i close to the right answer?
ryuu said…
@SAYA - oh my, i just searched in google and there's a lot of flower names.:P
Zanyuki said…
@Hasumi
Probably not just by reading comments here, but reading books. A lot of them. :)

@Saya
Yuri? :O
@ryuu&Zanyuki : I'm afraid I'm not giving you my real name, friends!
Unknown said…
Aww, that's really sad. :C Poor guy. And he seems so nice to care about others instead of himself. My friend's best friend got murdered by being shot to death last March, she was only 20 years old. It's horrible, but it happens. >-<
@Li Wei: Oh no, Li, I'm sorry about your best friend... I don't know what to say :(
Unknown said…
It's okay Saya. C: Man that must be tough on the mother. :C It was my friend's best friend, I only met the girl who was killed once, she seemed nice. It was a shock to me when I saw her face and name on the news.
; A ; I was like, "I've seen this girl before." It turns out she went to the same high school as I did.
@Nanami Lee: it must have indeed been shocking, to know something like that happened to her even though you knew her only briefly :(

I have one counsin who died years ago in earthquake. She was Taiwanese and about the same age as me (I'm half Taiwanese). I only saw her when we were small but her death still haunts me to this day.
Unknown said…
One of my oldest brothers actually was good friends with her. I remember the day I picked up a newspaper and saw her face on the headlines of the newspapers.

And aww Saya, I'm so sorry about your cousin! I hope she's resting in peace and my condolences. ._. :(
@Nanami: oh my. That must have been sad for your brother..:(

That's alright! Thank you :)
Unknown said…
My brother didn't really say much about that. But I understand. When I saw her autopsy report, I was a bit shocked. o.o
Unknown said…
The poor narrator. D: Either he is very selfless, or he is very oblivious.
I'm so sorry about your cousin, Saya san.

@Tani: To be honest I thought that the narrator was a bit dumb! XD

Thank you dear. It happened a long time ago. I wish she was still alive though. She had such an unhappy childhood too.
Anonymous said…
Narrator will be dead because nothing came up
Danee said…
Does that mean he died in 10 years ?