• They were the epitome of a happy family. Everybody wore tasteful outfits- elegant but colorful, formal yet comfortable. A balding man in a somber tuxedo with a yellow tie chatted amicably with a woman in a classy orange dress. Smiles abounded, and they thought that life was just fun and laughter...
    And one woman on the outside, looking in.
    Her black and gray dress was darker than the rest. This was her role, she knew. She did not belong in this cheery scene.
    As she peered in at the party once more, nodding, a sudden silence fell over the crowd. Their random movements became deliberate, meaningful. The carefree grins turned into tight, forced smiles. The woman knew this instant formality was her fault.
    The smiles and laughter were important, of course- more so than those enjoying it realized. But her mission was important, too. Still, she would not have denied feeling a tinge of regret- wishing that the fun could continue, hoping that someday she would be in the picture, that she would be part of the smiles and laughter.
    The family carried out further preparations as she quietly directed them. They went through the motions like robots, unthinking and unfeeling. This was her power- causing simple, efficient action, nothing more. The woman could not make them have fun; she was powerless to start up the smiles and laughter again.
    But even in these rigid, unnatural movements, there was a hint of the laughter that had been and would be again. Her path was not all black. That knowledge kept her going. And, luckily, she knew that muttering two words would show even more of the fun she had ended.
    "Say cheese."
    The words summoned obedient smiles, only half fake.
    A flash of light, and the scene was saved for another day, to sit in a book for all eternity.
    All it captured was the smiles.