Pages of instructions! Six languages. Things should be simpler. What ever happened to point-and-shoot? Bill tosses the booklet back under the Christmas tree and picks up the camera. He aims it first at the cat, then at the kitchen. Ah, there is Cindy, doing something near the stove. Bill works the zoom.

Big red oven mittens. Bill zooms back a bit. Cindy’s so beautiful, bending forward, that enigmatic smile. What could she be thinking? Bill presses the button.

“You like your new camera?” Cindy asks.

“I just took a picture of you,” Bill says. He shows her the image on the little screen. “After dinner I’m going to print it on the computer. A blow-up. What is for dinner, anyway? You had the strangest expression on your face. What were you thinking?”