The roll I forgot to rewind

There is a correct order for this, and I know it. At the end of a roll you press the small button on the bottom of the Canonet, fold out the crank and wind the film back into its cassette. Only then do you pull up the rewind knob, which opens the back. I had done it in that order on every roll so far.

On Midsummer Day I was sitting on the sauna steps at the same mökki as last year, wanting a fresh roll in before the evening. There were fewer mosquitoes this time, or I have become less interesting to them. The advance lever stopped. I put my thumb under the knob and pulled, and the back swung open in full sun. For about a second I looked at the film lying flat across the camera. Then I shut it again, quickly, which made no difference.

Antti's father was on the jetty and saw it happen. He said only "no niin", which in Finnish can mean almost anything, and went back to his fishing line.

I developed the roll, Fomapan 100, on Wednesday in the bathroom. The end of the strip came out of the tank completely black. Nine frames are gone. Four before them have fog coming in from both edges. The flag going up at six on Friday is in there, between two black bands, as if seen through a letterbox.

The early June frames from Helsinki, further in on the spool, are fine. Washing on a balcony in the rain, and my own bicycle, twice. The Bessa came along as well, and its roll is fine too: the bonfire, and Antti's father on the jetty with his fishing line, seen from behind.