He’s Not Here 2.0 by Jamie Daws

Have you ever felt as if the eyes in a photograph are watching you? Years ago, when we moved into our new home, a small family photo hung on the wall, and strange occurrences began. Initially, it was minor things, like the photo being crooked. Then one day, it inexplicably ended up on the table, untouched by anyone.

As time went on, the scene in the photo began to shift. One morning, the table in the picture was on the left, but when we returned home, it had mysteriously moved to the right. The situation escalated when the photo was thrown at me, cracking the frame. That was when I decided enough was enough.

I removed the photo from the wall, tore it from its frame, and disposed of the pieces. Things seemed to improve until a week later when a parcel arrived. Inside was the cracked frame, with the photo pieces perfectly reassembled like a jigsaw puzzle. We had no clue who sent it or why.

The magician lays out the photo pieces on the table, inviting the spectator to examine them closely. They select one piece and focus on a person depicted in it. Holding the face-down piece, they are prompted to name the individual while the magician reads a list of random names.

After these events, we discovered that one person in the photo had gone missing a year before it was taken. His name was Robert, the name the spectator thought of. To this day, no one knows what happened to him.

The magician asks the spectator to recall the person in the piece they are holding. She describes his appearance, but when the piece is flipped over, that individual is no longer there. The photo is reassembled, and while the piece fits perfectly, Robert is gone…

…He’s not here.