Orphans

Digging through an antique store I found a box of old photographs. Some still attached to the black paper  that conjures up images of old, fat photo albums. Who are these people abandoned like orphans in this box?

They are mute, trapped on film, frozen in their places. What stories could they tell?

There are soldiers and sailors, girls wearing orchids and long formal gowns.
Old folks posed on the porch steps, another hanging clothes with the wooden pins clenched between her lips.

Babies in carriages, and little boys in sailor suits squinting from the sun. A picnic and a family dinner, with smiling face all around the table.

Who are these people, what stories could they tell? A fanciful thought pops into my head as I stare deeply into each person's face, what if I recognized them? What if they were my people?

Time marches on, and memories fade. The black and white photos reveal a different time, a different place. Who will claim these orphans? Who will remember their faces?