We bought the old house a few weeks ago, but finally had time to clean it out. It was dirty, dusty work, and my allergies weren’t having it. “Okay,” Simon said. “I’ll tackle the attic, if you clean the shed outside. It should be less dusty.” My ass it would be less dusty, but I knew he was getting annoyed with my constant sneezing. My roommate was a bit of a hypochondriac. Good thing, it was a sunny day, and to be honest, I was curious what was in the shed.

The door creaked open, and I was thankful for the daylight. The shed was mostly empty, just a few boxes here and there. In one of them, I found old toys, half-completed crosswords, and a roll of film. Film! My photographer’s heart leapt with joy. I hadn’t work with film in years. I knew the pharmacy down the street still developed film, so that was my next stop.

A short bike ride later, I dropped the film off, and introduced myself to the woman behind Ethernet counter. “Ah, you bought the old Edwards place? Mighty odd man he was. Kept to himself. No family, no friends. I didn’t know he passed until I saw the ‘For Sale’ sign. Took odd pictures of toys. I’ve seen them, they were interesting, but why would a 90 year old man play with toys?”

“Art?” I suggested. “It’s a pretty popular hobby now.” “Ah, that may be,” she relented. “Your film will be ready in an hour.”

I decided to stick around the store, an hour wasn’t that long. I started to wonder about old man Edwards. We didn’t know anything about him, we bought the house after he passed, and the realtor didn’t know much about him. After an hour of walking up an down the same small aisles, my film was ready.

“Well now,” Shannon (I could see her name badge now) said. “Look at these. Crazy, I say!”

I look at the photos. Yes, they were of toy photography, but not the cutesy pictures I loved on Instagram. These told stories. A Carebear nurse tended to an injured Furby, set in some post-apocalyptic nightmare. And another one, a windup fish trapped in a pantyhose net, being hauled in by a Transformer. These sets, the lighting...Edwards was trying to tell people things, show his thoughts.

I wondered if anyone listened to him. I wanted to find more rolls of film. I needed to find more stories.

I wanted to give Edwards a voice.