Image by Janet Webb at http://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/
Everyone says I look like her. You have your mother’s hair. I get sick of hearing it. Sure, there are photos. But they’re not the same. It’s the faces you pull. The face I only ever get to see in a mirror. The face that looks like the face I’ll never get to see. It’s the way your lips twitch. It’s the way you squint your eyes. It’s the way you play with your chin when you’re upset.
There’s only one person who deserves to tell me we’re alike. But she died when my memories were just beginning to form.
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Speaking of mirrors – check out the eBook on Amazon called ‘Mirrors: The Writing Workshop Anthology’ (you’ll see some familiar Friday Fictioneers authors in there)
In July this year I began my 100 book challenge, where I plan to read 100 classics in my lifetime.
See my recent reviews of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Brave New World and let me know what you think!
Follow @jessieansonsFriday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information see: http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/12-september-2014/
Jessie Ansons 
What a heart wrenching piece, wonderfully written.
Thank you Carol, I’m glad you thought so.
Dear Jessie,
Your story sent an ache straight to my heart. Beautifully written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you Rochelle. It’s a sad piece and I’m glad it was able to portray that,
There are ways in which I resemble my mother as well. I suppose we all do.
Yes, we certainly do. I notice it in my own son too 🙂
Lovely story Jessie. Very well done.
Thank you Sandra 🙂
Great job, Jess. Wonderful!
You know, the style reminds me of the American poet-author Carl Sandberg and a poem he wrote that I never forgot. I’d like to share it with you.
This face you got,
This here phizzog you carry around,
You never picked it out for yourself
at all, at all—-did you?
This here phizzog—-somebody handed it
to you–am I right?
Somebody said, “Here’s yours, now go see
what you can do with it.”
Somebody slipped it to you and it was like
a package marked:
“No goods exchanged after being taken away”—-
This face you got.
A beautiful poem!!! It’s so true. Our face is something we never got to choose.
A poignant, piercing story that I will not soon forget. Well done.
Aloha,
Doug
Thank you Doug. I’m glad it gave you that response 🙂
So heartbreaking, a wonderful piece of work.
Thank you for your lovely comment 🙂
Wonderfully evocative. It’s hard resenting aspects of what you love… or loved.
Yes, absolutely. Thank you for your comment 🙂
Beautiful, heart-rending story, Jessie. Now all I can hear is Fred Astaire doing “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” 🙂
janet
Wonderful. Thanks for your comment 🙂 Now my story has a soundtrack!
Aw, this is so sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. Good job 🙂
Thank you Rachel, glad you liked it 🙂
A heart wrenching story. Good one!
Thanks for your comment. Glad you liked it.
This is strikingly good. Wonderful surprise ending.
Glad you liked the ending and didn’t see it coming 🙂
Sad story!
Yes, I’ll try to do a happier one next week! My writing is always impacted by my mood at the time (or what I’m reading)
Very sad, it must be hard to be constantly likened to someone you never really got to know.
Yes, it would be a difficult life to live.
This story has the twist in the perfect place, and all of the sudden I do understand what’s the real reason for the denial.. a perfect story.
Thanks Björn – glad you liked it – although I do think ‘perfect’ is overdoing it! 🙂
Jessie, This is a story that we feel in our hearts. We especially feel it when we see our mothers in the mirror more and more as we grow older and in our daughters as they grow up. Well written. 🙂 —Susan
Yes absolutely! This story came from me seeing my own expressions in my son’s face.
That last line really makes it poignant. It would be hard to grow up feeling like you’re missing your other half.
Thanks for the lovely comment. Yes, it would be a hard life.
Really sad story. Certainly worth telling.
Thank you! Glad you thought so 🙂
Lovely sad story.
Thanks for reading and for your comment!
quite a sad story, but nice take on the prompt.
Thank you, glad it could give you an emotional response 🙂
Wow, sad story and I know what she’s talking about. My grandmother died before I was born, but my son has always been told by relatives that he was the spitting image of Maude Allen Carter from Elkins, Arkansas. He has the red hair to match (exactly) a locket of her hair that was saved for years in a trunk. Nan 🙂
Wow – what an incredible keepsake! My son has my grandmother’s striking blue eyes (when the rest of us have brown). It’s wonderful how these things are passed down.
Having lost my father when I was ten, I can really relate to this one, Jessie. Very well done.
How sad to lose your father at such a young age. I’m glad you liked this story 🙂