For Sydney's Sake

The following story is fan fiction that I (unwittingly) wrote in the late 90s, so inspired by a serendipity of nostalgia and coincidence that a story poured forth as though I was in the book itself. In my mind's eye, I was a sideline observer whose connections with the characters of a beloved and well-known novel, "A Tale of Two Cities," by Charles Dickens, was more than mere sentimentalism or romance. I was possessed of a sincere desire to influence the book's events. I couldn't, of course, and neither could Annie, but there she was, a character I like to think may have been in the background of Dicken's imagination, too humble and too modest to step forward to catch his attention.

I saw her, though, and so I spoke up.

This "possession" came about because I had wandered into a local antique mall, out of boredom and restlessness, with a desire to find something that would make me stop and think "I MUST have that!" I almost didn't have that moment. I passed by one booth and a framed picture caught my eye - I did a double take. I couldn't for the life of me remember where I'd seen it before, but the uplifted face of Sydney Carton was so full of beauty and pathos, I couldn't look away. This was a MUST HAVE.

It was yellowed with age. Some mold spots were sprinkled throughout. On the back, pasted to the brown paper lining was Sydney Carton's last soliloquy: "T'is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before..." There were square nails in the frame, which placed the age before the 1930s.

Then I remembered: I'd lost my old paperback of ToTC. After purchasing the lithograph, I went to Barnes & Noble to get a new book...and lo and behold! There Carton was, on a newly minted cover, the same lithograph I had purchased! It was kismet!

I like to think Dickens visited me that day. This story is what came out of it.

Cover photo: the inspiration lithograph, drawn by Dicken's contemporary artist, Frederick Barnard.