I don’t even recognise the handwriting. So much has changed since I wrote those words in my journal. Can I believe them? Searching my memory offers no answers. I have no recollection of those woods, the cottage, the break-in. Did it really happen?
A story slots into place in my narrative. Comfortable.
That would explain my fear of dark tree stands. But I’m an imposter in my own life. There is now an uncertainty at the core of my life, a swampy place where the footing is unsteady. It threatens to swallow everything.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
A moody piece, his uncertainty needs fixing like Dales door.
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Thanks, Michael
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I’ve had my parents tell me stories about my childhood before where I have no recollection of the events taking place. I can really empathize with the character in this.
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Thanks, Carol. That was the effect I was going for
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Dear Neil,
An impostor in my own life. Love that line. It says so much. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks so much, Rochelle
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I love the line “an imposter in my own life”. Great piece
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Thanks so much, Kelly
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Cleverly written and atmospheric. Loved this.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks so much, Susan
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A deep fog this week, Neil, quite unsettling.
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Thanks so much
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Just forgetful with age, or traumatic head injury? Either way, it is a good story.
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Or trapped behind a trans-dimensional portal in an alternative universe? Thanks, Trent
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Yes, there is always that possibility. I hate it when that happens.
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I like the creepiness of this piece.
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Thanks, Joshua
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This was brilliant. I didn’t feel it was creepy at all… Many would block out a trauma that happened in their youth.
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Thanks so much, Dale. She may have blocked out a trauma. Or maybe it never happened?
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That’s what I was thinking… of course if it never happened, that’s a whole ‘nother thing!
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Being an imposter in one’s own life. That’s going to have me thinking for a while. I think it’s a genius observation on an awful lot of us.
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Thanks so much, Linda. I was quite pleased with that
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Wow. Way to set up a mood, carried through to the last word…and beyond.
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Thanks so much, Stu
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This is great, and leaves me wondering what awful thing happened in his life.
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Thanks Liz. Yes I wondered too, but she wouldn’t say
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I’m really digging these takes on the photo!
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Thanks so much, Jennifer
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The brain has a cany way of blocking physical and emotional trauma for our benefit. The trauma could be too much to handle, but it does leave us with deep feelings of uncertainty and loss. Brilliant piece, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Brenda
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Hi Neil strong stuff, I got a feeling that the narrator was suffering with some sort of dementia and that may be completely off what you were trying to achieve, but hey you know what they say, its not what you look at that matters… 🙂
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Dementia? Maybe. Trauma? Maybe? False memory syndrome? Maybe
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I wish I could recall more of my younger days, but then perhaps there are some memories that are best left unrecovered.
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Shoulda kept a journal
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I am the keeper of stories in our family. My sisters often say “Really? That happened?” Oh, yes. The event is a photo in my mind.
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A story slots into place in my narrative ~ this is my favorite line. How many times do we do this during our lifetime?
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In an important sense, we’re all stories
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What a rich story! The break-in. What happened during this break-in? A thump to the head that makes memories go away or change? The fears it brings about. Excellent!
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Thanks so much, Sascha
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You seem to be in turmoil. Anything in particular creating this churning?
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It’s a fictional character, not me
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What is bothering your protagonist?
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No being sure what is real
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I’m now wondering how many things I’ve blocked from my mind, but then again I’d rather not know.
Click to read my FriFic tale!
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Thanks, Keith
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An imposter in my own life – such is the scourge of dementia. Well told.
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Thanks so much, James. I didn’t actually have dementia in mind, but it would fit as an interpretation
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How many scenarios I cannot be certain happened. Dreams? Past life recollections? Hmmm.
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The possibilities are endless in a multiverse of endless copies
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Old age, Alzheimer’s or just that thing where your parents tell you something and you can’t remember it? Nice piece!
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Or trauma, or intersecting time lines. Thanks
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I love the half-dreamlike, half obscure atmosphere. Forgetfulness, trauma, disease, old age… Flashbacks can be unsettling. Great writing.
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Thanks so much
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sometimes we tend to forget what we want to forget and suddenly comes back to haunt us.
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That’s so, yes
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Gosh great atmosphere in this. I’m waiting for something, peering over my shoulder …
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Thanks so much, Laurie
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I enjoyed the voice in this.
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Thanks, Dawn
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Expertly written as always, brilliant illustration of suppressed trauma, plenty of feeling and emotion
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Thanks so much, Michael. What a lovely compliment
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I am an impostor in my own life…. this is scary. shows the man’s life and mind is in turmoil.
https://ideasolsi65.blogspot.com/2019/01/door.html
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Thanks so much
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mostly we keep fixing the break-ups, even those that are imaginary
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Perhaps especially for those that are imaginary
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The woods are dark and deep. There is something chilling and scary about this one, like a sense of foreboding. I did like the line – I’m an imposter in my own life.
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Thanks so much
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To lose one’s memory – or to lose trust in one’s memory – either way, a frightening prospect. Well captured.
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Thanks so much, Margaret
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I like the being an imposter in his own life, really brilliant, wish I’d thought of that!
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Thanks so much. You will, Oscar, you will
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Oscar??
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Wilde. The quote is from a friend of Oscar Wilde’s when the writer was struck by someone else’s aphorism and said “I wish I’d said that”
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Aah, well thank you very much once again I’ve learnt something new, and it likens me to Oscar Wilde which is rather good I’d say!
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Though we know intellectually that memory is fallible, we tend to base our identity on our memories. “A swampy place where the footing is unsteady” is such a great image to represent the uneasiness one feels when faced with a failing memory, whether for a specific event or in a general sense. Thought provoking.
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Thanks so much, Magarisa. Those are the thoughts I was trying to provoke
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I really love the discomfort of the narrator and maybe a story he’s lost.
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Thanks so much, Bjorn
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I think you’ve captured the creeping terror with “imposter in my own life”. I hope he finds his way.
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Thanks so much, Fatima
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I think he wandered into mental quicksand.
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He did, and he’s thrashing around.
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Dark secrets the narrator can’t even admit to themselves? Sounds like the start to a cracking novel, Neil. Lots of mystery, well done
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Thanks so much, Lynn
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My pleasure 🙂
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‘A story slots into place in my narrative. Comfortable.’
I liked the placement of this line in the midst of all the uncertainty. Sometimes we tell (or are told by others) stories about ourselves so often that we become comfortable thinking of them as ‘the truth’, even though they may differ from the actual events.
Nicely told, Neil.
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That was my intention. Much of what we believe we know is a story
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