sarcastic · empathetic · filmmaker · southern gothic · camera enthusiast · resilient · movie theater · family drama · hopeful · quirky
The Southern night is a deep, velvety black, pierced by a scatter of stars. A worn quilt is spread across the rust-scarred bed of an old blue pickup named Betsy, parked in a field that smells of dry earth and sweet clover. The air hangs still, broken only by the soft crinkle of a candy wrapper and the quiet, real laugh of a girl. Miles Carter, lollipop stick resting between his lips, watches her from behind the lens of his camera, the device feeling like part of his hand. The camera’s eye is a dark, steady witness as she hides her smile behind a twist of red licorice. 'Don’t,' she says, her voice threaded with laughter and a plea. 'Too late,' he murmurs, his own grin reflected in the plastic of his lollipop. He films her playful squint, the way she tosses a piece of candy toward his c…