Chapter 1
Horns blared and voices made sure that silence was just a myth as New York bustled through another day. From somewhere on the sidewalk coins chimed musically together as they lay in the outstretched palm of a resident of this town. She gazed at the newspaper stand and greedily grabbed the latest issue of The Daily Bugle. Her eyes grazed over the colored pixels of the latest cover story picture in hopes of finding those two wonderful words. And there they were! She handed the chrome colored coins to the salesman and giddily skipped down the sidewalk, practically running back to her apartment. And running was difficult on the crowded sidewalk on this particularly busy day. The sun blazed over head as she ran the many blocks back to her home. When she reached it, she paused for a moment to make sure that her treasured paper was still tucked underneath her arm. Still winded, she took the elevator up to her room despite the threatening noises it made as it climbed higher and higher into the sky. Reaching her floor she rifled through her pocket and pulled out her keys. Come on! She willed silently. Come on! Click. "Yes," she cried pushing her way into the small apartment. Throwing the paper onto her bed she seized a pair of scissors and hastily cut the photo off the front page. Grabbing some packaging tape she made a makeshift lamination-like covering on the photo, then hung it on her wall with normal scotch tape. "Hello? Anyone home?" A call came from her door as it was opened, the owner of the voice not waiting for an answer. The woman stepped back to admire her newly collected photo. A sigh came from behind her as the newcomer stepped up the her side. "Another one of his pictures?" she asked, "You are going to be broke if you keep buying these dumb papers just for the front page." The woman just smiled and looked at her friend. Her friend, in returned, shook her head knowingly. "Boy, you sure are something else, Ty."
Ty was once again gazing at the walls of her room. They were completely covered with photographs. Some were of birds in the park and of old men playing chess. But most of them were of New York's hero, Spider-Man. Ty scoffed. Spider-Man. Sure he did good and all that, but he was just a man in tights too scared to show his own face. She didn't really trust him. "In the world we live in today almost no one would do that much good and ask for nothing in return," she said aloud to herself. "Then why," her pals would ask, "Are your walls covered in him?" The answer is simple, Ty thought to herself. It's not the man in the photograph, but the man taking it. "Peter Parker" Ty said aloud in admiration. If there was anyone who deserved more credit than Spider-man, it was him. To Ty, Peter Parker was the greatest photographer in all of New York and beyond. Her greatest dream was to meet him someday. A glance around Ty's room would prove why. A student at a University in New York, Ty was in the field of photography. The sound of a shutter closing was the sweetest of all sounds to her. She spent days pooling over new photo ideas and looking at the works of her hero, Mr. Parker. Ty looked at the photo that she had stuck on her wall earlier that day. Spider-Man was once again flying through the city doing good of some sort. In the corner of the picture "Photograph by Peter Parker" was printed in a small, fine print. "I must work hard to reach his level of skill," Ty said aloud snatching up her camera. "And I must never give up!" With this Ty slammed her apartment door shut and ran down the many flights of stairs instead of taking the possessed elevator down. She than began the journey to Central Park, her favorite place for taking pictures. There were also many picture opportunities on the way there. She quickly snapped pictures of ever day life as people briskly made their way though the busy city. Suddenly an ambulance blared it's way past Ty. She immediately changed her direction and ran as fast as she could toward the billowing cloud of smoke that the ambulance was headed towards. Where ever there's trouble, Ty thought to herself, There'll be Spider-Man. And where ever there's Spider-Man, she grinned, There'll be Parker!
By the time Ty had reached the fire the building was completely consumed in flames. Screams came from inside the building and Ty got Goosebumps all over her arms despite the blazing heat coming from the building. She pulled out her camera and hastily snapped photos of firemen pulling people to safety. Then he came. "Spider-Man! Look! It's Spider-Man!" Ty turned towards the person who had called out. It was a young boy covered in sooty ash. She allowed her gaze to follow his pointing finger to the figure zipping his way into the enflamed building. Ty's finger pressed the camera button double time as the insect looking hero carried person after couching person out of the smoke and set them safe and sound on the street below. She moved closer and closer to the building as her camera greedily snapped the photos. Too close! Someone screamed and Ty quickly pulled her eyes away from the camera long enough to realize that a large piece of the building had broken free and was falling….straight at her. With seconds to move, Ty's brain froze. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and her eyes shut. Wham! A strong force hit Ty's body and she felt as if she were flying, falling into nothing. I must be dead, huh? She thought sadly to herself. And I never got to meet him. Suddenly Ty felt her feet firmly touch the ground. She opened her eyes, confused. Looking back at her were two large silvery-white slanted teardrop shaped eyes. She gasped in surprise. Spider-Man, the Spider-Man, stood before her, his hands still on her waist. "You ok?" he asked. She nodded and breathlessly sputtered out a, "Thank you." The blue and red clad man put his hand to his head as if tipping an imaginary hat. "Don't mention it." he said as he stepped back from her. His head motioned towards her camera. "A photographer. Nice choice of career," he said, then shot his thread up to some unknown spot then swung off to make sure no one was left in the collapsing building. Ty stood in dazed. Spider-Man had just saved her life. And he likes photography? She wondered in amusement. "Maybe he's not so bad after all," she said aloud with a laugh. Then, as he swung out of the building one final time she raised her camera and pressed her finger to the shutter button. "Thanks Spidy," she whispered as she took her first photo of the young hero. "Thank you!"