AN - A very, very corny story that I wrote from a prompt of the same title. I was trying to make fun of my literature textbook by adding allusion and unnecessary footnotes (the latter of which I have mercifully removed). If you know about manual photography and printing, you might understand bits of the story better. Song lyrics compliments of Savage Garden (Break Me Shake Me). And yes, the story it is supposed to be this dumb, it's on purpose. Um, that's about it. Read on.

The Haunted Clothespin

Selene exited the darkroom, a tray of several fresh prints in hand. It had been a productive morning; her prints were of good quality and she was pleased with her work. Selene sang along with the music emanating from the darkroom behind her. "So you're the kind that deals with the games in the mind. Well you confuse me in a way that I never known. You confuse me in a way that I've never known. So break me shake me hate me take me over. When the madness stops then you will be alone." she continued singing as she hung up her wet photos on the clothesline, securing them with clothespins.
Selene stood back and admired her work for a few moments. Then something written on one of the clothespins caught her eye. She stepped closer and read the words on the clothespin silently. 'Property of art department - do not take.' Selene grinned. 'Ha, like they'll ever miss one little clothespin. The photo department needs it more anyway.' With that thought, she took one last glance at her photos and opened the door to the darkroom. After closing the door behind her, Selene opened the second door and was greeted by the familiar faint red glow of the sour-scented room. She gathered her negatives from around her enlarger, packed up her folder, and left again happily. After putting her folder away, she walked out of the photo labs onto the grassy grounds of the art camp and breathed the fresh air. She noticed that a few dozen kids were already standing in front of the building across from the photo labs, and more were on their way. 'Good, it's lunchtime,' Selene thought to herself as she walked leisurely towards the dining hall.

Selene didn't go back to the photo labs until the next morning. She brought her folder into the hallway and started removing her photos from the line. She examined each print with a satisfied grin before placing it in her folder. This pattern was broken when her hand faltered as she reached up to pinch open the clothespin that held up a print of trees. She remembered taking the photo, she had been near her dorms and the picnic table was unusually empty of other campers. She had sat on the table and taken a photo of the trees lining the perimeter of the camp. But the print did not show the image of the trees. Standing in the center of the photo, looking extremely out of place, was a giant clothespin.
Selene removed the print from the clothesline and held it up with two trembling fingers. She blinked several times trying to make sense of how the clothespin could have appeared in the picture. Was it possible that the negative had been double exposed, and she had forgotten to wind the film between pictures? No, that couldn't be. She hadn't taken a picture of a clothespin anywhere in the roll of film, let alone right after the picture of the trees. It could have been someone else's picture, except it would be unrealistic for someone else to have a picture of the same trees, with a huge clothespin in the frame. So how could this have happened? It was just. weird.
Selene finally placed the strange print in her folder. She had no idea what was going on, it was too surreal. So she did the best that she could to push the print out of her mind. She succeeded for the rest of the day, and didn't think of the picture even once. But that night, it came to her in her dreams.
She was running through the camp, being chased by a giant clothespin. No one was there to hear Selene scream as she tried frantically to escape her lumbering pursuer. No matter how fast she ran, the clothespin was always just a few feet behind her. Finally, she could run no longer, and fell to her knees at the doors of the art studio, gasping in shallow sobs. The clothespin stood before Selene, having won the chase. Slowly and fearfully, she lifted her head, afraid of what she would see. Before her was the massive object, with the clearly printed 'property of art department - do not take' on its side. Selene finally found the voice to speak, "My. my picture. Why did that happen to it? Why did you ruin it?" Selene knew that it was imprudent to ask this question, but she had to know.
"You moronic photo students always steal us from the art department. The art department was sick of you stealing us so they decided to get even. They put a curse on some of us so that we would appear in your pictures. It was just to scare some sense into you, so that you would stop stealing us. But now that you have shown me such disrespect, I will have to correct your attitude."
Selene cowered in terror as the jaws of the clothespin opened and tilted down to her. They were coming closer. Selene jolted upright in bed, her pajamas damp with sweat, and the taste of bile in her throat. She was shaking, but she knew that she had to get up. She tossed the covers to the side and climbed down from her top bunk. As quietly as she could, Selene put on her shoes and grabbed her flashlight. She crept out of the door, careful not to wake her sleeping bunkmates. Once she was outside and a good way past her bunk, Selene broke into a run, dashing toward the photo labs as fast as her legs would take her.
Upon arriving in the labs, Selene easily found the offending clothespin on the clothesline outside of the darkroom door. She gently removed it from the line and turned to go. But then she had a second thought, and searched all the clotheslines for clothespins that were marked as belonging to the art department. She was surprised to find fifteen in all. Some of them held prints, which had images of clothespins in them. Selene ripped up these prints and threw them in the trash. People would wonder where their prints had gone, true, but it was better that than having to explain to them about the haunted clothespins. Still, she realized as she shoved the clothespins into her pockets, she would have to tell the photo department to stop stealing from the art department. Selene realized the injustice of it, and knew that it had to be stopped, or else the art department would take even more drastic measures against the photo department.
Selene left the photo labs and jogged to the art studio. Luckily, the back door was unlocked, so she slipped in. After a bit of searching, she found the supply closet that housed, among other things, the clothespins. Selene removed the clothespins from her pockets and put them in their rightful place in the closet. Satisfied, she went back to her bunk, kicked off her shoes, and crawled back into bed. She fell asleep almost instantly.
The giant clothespin was standing next to Selene in the grassy field. Surrounding them were not people, but other giant clothespins, running, playing, and sitting around. Selene's clothespin seemed to smile at her, and she grinned back.
"Thank you Selene," it said. "You have set us free. Because of you, we no longer have to be cruel to you and your fellow photographers. I know already that you are going to teach your friends not to steal us any more. Thank you Selene. You have freed us from the curse," it repeated.
Selene simply smiled at the clothespin.
In her bed, Selene snuggled closer into the covers and sighed contentedly in her sleep. She was glad to have done the right thing, and deserved a good night's sleep.