legends · 4 min read ·
Trail Camera Log, Unit 14
A trail camera in a forest clearing records a figure at an empty cabin, and then records the ranger who retrieves it.
**Upper Dunmere Forest · Survey Unit 14 · Trail camera log**
**Device:** TC-14B · **Location:** cabin clearing, north track · **Interval:** 30 min motion trigger
- **Timestamp · Image · Caption**
- 10-03 06:12 · IMG_0412 · Fox, adult, crossing clearing
- 10-03 06:42 · IMG_0413 · Empty clearing
- 10-04 07:18 · IMG_0431 · Roe deer, two
- 10-05 19:50 · IMG_0457 · Owl, on fence post
- 10-06 22:04 · IMG_0490 · Human figure, standing at cabin door
- 10-06 22:34 · IMG_0491 · Human figure, same position, hand raised to door
- 10-06 23:04 · IMG_0492 · Door open. Interior dark.
*Ranger's note: cabin is unoccupied per the lease record. Lease holder: M. Dunmere, deceased 2011. Cabin's last recorded use was as a survey hut.*
· · ·
**Ranger's memo (A. Quaife, 8 Oct)**
Visited Unit 14 to retrieve the card and check the lock. Cabin door was shut. Lock intact. There was no trace of anyone having come in or out. Footprints in the mud led up to the door and did not come back down.
I took the card. The images from 6 to 7 October have been checked against the lease record and the camera's own internal log, which confirms the camera was not moved.
· · ·
**Trail camera log (continued)**
- **Timestamp · Image · Caption**
- 10-07 00:00 · IMG_0520 · Human figure, inside cabin, seated at table
- 10-07 00:30 · IMG_0521 · Figure seated, facing the camera. Face not visible.
- 10-07 01:00 · IMG_0522 · Figure gone. Table set for two.
- 10-07 06:00 · IMG_0530 · Human figure, outside cabin, smoking a pipe
- 10-07 06:30 · IMG_0531 · Same figure, now inside, at window
- 10-07 12:00 · IMG_0560 · Human figure, at camera. Close. Face is out of focus.
*Note: IMG_0560 was taken from a position that is not on the track. The camera is on the fence post, facing the cabin. The figure is between the camera and the cabin. The camera is not reporting its own position.*
· · ·
**Ranger's memo (A. Quaife, 12 Oct)**
Second visit. The camera has been moved. Its strap is wrapped twice round the fence post, tight, and the post has a pair of neat hand-marks on it, at head height, as if someone had stood there and looked through the lens.
Inside the cabin the table is set for two, with plates, and the plates are dry. A thin film of dust covers the floor, except for the boot prints from the trail, which lead to the chair at the head of the table and stop.
I didn't go further in. There was a sound from the back room. Humming. Patient. Like someone keeping time with a spoon against a cup.
· · ·
**Trail camera log (continued, reinstalled device)**
- **Timestamp · Image · Caption**
- 10-14 09:00 · IMG_0601 · Empty clearing
- 10-14 22:00 · IMG_0640 · Human figure, cabin window, from inside
- 10-15 04:00 · IMG_0655 · Figure at fence post, close. Looking directly into lens. Smiling.
- 10-15 04:30 · IMG_0656 · Lens cap present. Image dark.
- 10-15 05:00 · IMG_0657 · Lens cap removed. Figure is holding the camera. Its own reflection is in the lens.
*Note: the figure in IMG_0657 is me, as photographed from the position of the camera. The caption was written by the device's auto-tagging, which identifies the subject as "ranger, A. Quaife." The ranger was at the depot at 05:00.*
· · ·
**Ranger's memo (A. Quaife, 19 Oct)**
I'm writing this from the depot. I'm not going back up the track. My own camera's been taking photos of me sitting at a table I've never been to, with a plate of food in front of me, and the food is still warm in every picture.
The last image from the device, which I was sent by the system, is IMG_0699, timestamped 23:58 last night. It shows the cabin from the clearing, with the door open, the lamp lit, and two figures at the table. One is a man in a ranger's jacket. The other is me, with the camera in my lap, leaning forward to look at the picture on its screen.
· · ·
**Final survey note (Unit 14, 28 Oct)**
Camera TC-14B retrieved from the fence post. Card contains 700 images. Most are of an empty clearing. The last image is a photograph of the back of the camera, taken by the camera.
Ranger's note: the cabin door is open. The lamp is lit. The table is set. A chair has been pulled out for the next visitor, and beside the plate, a trail camera has been placed face up, lens pointed at the seat, with its strap undone, set for someone to sit down and be recorded.