A new photo she didn't remember taking. It was from last week, at a bookstore. A friend had snapped it without her noticing. Elara was mid-laugh, face scrunched, holding a silly poetry book. She looked alive. Not the hollowed-out widow, but someone with a crease of joy beside her eye.
She tried everything. She restarted the phone, cleared the cache, even emailed the photo to herself to download it fresh. Each time, the phone rejected it. Finally, a support forum suggested a hard reset: Hold volume down and power for ten seconds. change lock screen image
The first was the alpine lake. She swiped left. A field of sunflowers. Swipe. A nebula from the James Webb telescope. Swipe. A kitten in a teacup. A new photo she didn't remember taking