Monday, October 26, 2009

Host Mention - Favorite JILS: Footfalls Echo in the Memory by inside-the-disarray



Honestly, by the end of “Footfalls Echo in the Memory” by inside-the-disarray, I wanted to snuggle everyone in sight, including Alice (and if you know me at all, you know that’s significant).

I won’t give too much away, because the uncertainty that surrounds Jasper, and how it unfolds, is part of what ups the snuggleability factor, but to give you the basics.... Jasper is a CIA operative who vanishes after a mission. Alice finds him in an alley in Morocco, and when he wakes up, he has no memories of who he is or how he – a blond, blue-eyed guy with a southern-American accent – ended up in a foreign country. Tiny flashes of his life start to come to him slowly – “I speak fluent Arabic. And French. And Farsi I believe, though I haven’t had the chance to actually test that one yet.” – but the majority of who he was is lost. He can’t even explain the “B” tattoo on the inside of his arm.

We follow Jasper (aka. Ben), Alice, and Bella, as they all deal with life following Jasper’s disappearance and discovery in the alley. Jasper’s deepening feelings for Alice are tainted with frustration about what he doesn’t know, and I found myself reading his journal entries (a smart way for inside-the-disarray to share his real worries and concerns) wondering if each tiny surfacing memory would be what would break open his world.

Bella, his fiancée, tries to contact him and is stonewalled by the CIA, and her memories about how things used to be and how things were supposed to be are heart-wrenching.

Alice’s unwavering love and support of him, even though she knows it could all go to hell at any moment if he remembers just the wrong (or right) thing, is beautifully moving.

The contest was filled with sad and broken Jaspers, and this one – who lived a dangerous life but fell victim in a completely unexpected way – deserves to be at the center of a massive #jaspersnuggle.

- ElleCC

Link to story: Footfalls Echo in the Memory by inside-the-disarray

1 comment:

  1. Aside from socact's Forgiven, this was my other favorite in the contest! inside-the-disarray did a beautiful job with this story. The style is so unique, as is the plot. Combined with the eloquent and gorgeous language used to create this heartbreaking yet hopeful tale, it is truly an amazing piece. Congrats bb!

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