365 tomorrows

TABULA RASA by Daedalus is now up.

I look around, one last time, at the empty apartment and the packed bags.

One last time? Nicholas Jameson will see those old, beat-up duffels often, but I can’t think of him as being me. As being real. It isn’t my new face I see in the mirror, courtesy of Tabula Rasa’s plastic surgery, it is his. It isn’t my brand-new driver’s license in my pocket, it’s Jameson’s.

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Enjoyable, especially as it's described in such a manner that it could happen next week. With facial plastics in the news recently, the story has special resonance with current events.

One is left with a sense that there could be more to the story, and that sense is introduced effectively with the minimum wording. A well-done piece.

I'm immediately reminded of Eternal Sunshine - great movie, by the way.

That being said I don't mean to imply that they're TOO similar - this story is great and stands on its own. The writing was fantastic, and I love that at the last second he panicked and wanted to preserve something - whoops! What a terrifying thing to do, it's almost suicide. This should mix well with the other discussion about memory removal.

Thanks for the great story!

I was also reminded of Eternal Sunshine--I love Charlie Kaufman.
But this story definitely stands alone as a good tomorrow. I like the transition from first to third person as the protagonist becomes someone besides himself. And how memories can be taken, but feelings--emotional ties and a sense of familiarity--remain, even though they become confusing.

Thanks for the feedback!
I haven't seen Eternal Sunshine, but I've heard about it and it's on my long list of "movies to watch someday". I'll have to give it more priority, in light of this thread.
Interestingly, I wrote this in half an hour after thinking about the ideas behind it for a few weeks.
Easter egg: count the words in "Tabula Rasa"...

Some more of my work (from my blog):
Apocalypse, Inc is not extremely well written, because I was exploring an idea I'd had a few days before, and didn't take the time to really figure out how to turn it into a story. I may write a similar story for 365 at some point.
Eden is, in my opinion, one of my best story ideas. I haven't had any urge to write anything similar lately, but we'll see what happens.

In case this has put anyone in the mood to ponder about memory wpes, here's an older one from the archives - different feel, different technique, but similar subject matter.

In Remembrance

Nice!

Wow. Great story!