Story 217: "Hollow Day" by Kel

[wendelah1]

I've been wanting to rec this fic for years; however, I must warn you: this is not the usual, cheery, feel-good holiday story, nor is it the sort of story we've come to expect from Kel. There are not many fic writers who can create believable, compelling original characters the way Kel can. Her narrator, now an adult with children of her own, recalls a traumatic day she spent at the Mulders, specifically the Thanksgiving immediately following Samantha's abduction.

Most of the gentry on the Vineyard were summer people, but there was one rich family that lived there year-round. The Mulders. They weren't exactly Kennedys or anything, but you could tell they were loaded. I'm sure they were the only people on Martha's Vineyard with a summer house someplace else. Mrs. Mulder was always redecorating. My dad was a house painter, which meant he was always over there painting.

I didn't mind that my dad painted the house, or even that he fixed the drips and put up the storm windows. But I burned with resentment because every year my mom would spend Thanksgiving over at the Mulders', cleaning and serving and doing all kinds of things that she should have been doing for us, and that the Mulders should have been doing for themselves.

My freshman year at UMass, when my mom picked me up at the ferry the day before Thanksgiving, that was the first thing I said to her.

"I *hope* you're not planning to spend my visit working for the Mulders."

"Oh, my God, Linda, you haven't heard!" my mother said. "Something terrible happened last night. Samantha was kidnapped."

The link is to Fugues Fiction Archive but this can also be read at Gossamer.

Read "Hollow Day"

Don't forget to send feedback to the author, I know she'd appreciate it. The nomination post is always open for your suggestions. I'm especially interested in holiday stories right now.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to those who'll be celebrating next week.

Comments

[mogster495.livejournal.com]

I was iffy on the ending as well. I am not sure why the timeline of Samantha's abductions needed to be messed with. I suppose it was done to make the story happen on Thanksgiving. It's kinda creepy though, if Mulder was wrong about the details for so long.

I wonder what might have changed in the series if Mulder knew there was more to Samantha's abduction. He might start his quest for her all over again.

[wendelah1]

Supposedly Samantha was taken later than the others because Bill Mulder was slow to get on board with the plan. The date from Closure is November 27, 1973. But I'm thinking Kel didn't believe that any of the documentation about Samantha's abduction was reliable, and that Mulder's own memories of the event weren't either, since they were retrieved under hypnosis. The memories of the narrator, Linda, are also suspect, for the same reason. There is nothing we know about Samantha for certain.

Is Samantha even really dead? Mulder believes it based on what I believe is nothing more than a hallucination. Scully believes it based on the say so of the CSM. The show is so confusing about the fate of this very important character. If she really grew up with the Spenders from age nine to fourteen, why is it that Jeffrey doesn't seem to have any memories of her, and why does Cassandra Spender tell Mulder that she's with the aliens?

With canon like this, fic writers have a lot of leeway...

And the ending to "Hollow Day" provides no more closure than did Closure. Which is very x-filey indeed.

[littlegreen42.livejournal.com]

Is Samantha even really dead? Mulder believes it based on what I believe is nothing more than a hallucination. Scully believes it based on the say so of the CSM. The show is so confusing about the fate of this very important character.

That's why I hated the "walk-in" story, because there was no body found to confirm anything. Well, that, and I thought "walk-ins" were supposed to take over people's bodies (as described in "Red Museum") and not make them completely disappear into nothingness. I have a feeling that the X-Files writers have decided that the story in "Closure" is what happened -- as ridiculous as it is -- but I think I like the idea that it was a hallucination. Maybe Mulder was so tired of constantly trying to find his sister that his mind conjured that up.

If she really grew up with the Spenders from age nine to fourteen, why is it that Jeffrey doesn't seem to have any memories of her, and why does Cassandra Spender tell Mulder that she's with the aliens?

Because "continuity" and "The X-Files" are like oil and water? ;) Nah... Well, Jeffrey could have had his memories erased, but then he'd have all these long, blank periods in his past that would have troubled him and perhaps inspired him to find out exactly what he'd forgotten. Maybe Cassandra saw a clone. But I'm kind of tired of "it was a clone of Samantha, not the real Samantha!" being an explanation for everything. :/

[bardsmaid.livejournal.com]

Then there's also that plot bit from Blessing Way where Mulder sees his father on the bridge between life and death, and he asks whether Samantha is there, too. And Bill Mulder answers immediately that no, she's not.

I assume the just forgot about that later, or alternatively, hoped the audience would.

[estella-c.livejournal.com]

Either or both. The literate thugs.

[wendelah1]

Because "continuity" and "The X-Files" are like oil and water? ;)

I'm totally stealing this line.

Jeffrey must have had something done to his brain, although the show never gets specific. He doesn't recognize his own father when he meets him 20 years or so later. His father leaves his mother when he's 12 (but she keeps disappearing?) and he doesn't see him again until what, season six?

But I'm kind of tired of "it was a clone of Samantha, not the real Samantha!" being an explanation for everything. :/

You and me both.

[mogster495.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... a hallucination you say.

I have always thought that enlightened ghost spirits would have better things to do than play children's games in an empty field.

[infinitlight.livejournal.com]

why is it that Jeffrey doesn't seem to have any memories of her

There are a bunch of issues like that in the show. There's a running theme of memories being unreliable and easily manipulated. We could selective-memory-brain-surgery him a la Mulder, or psychologically create some kind of memory block as happens to both Mulder and Scully, as well as several other characters, on lots of occasions.

[wendelah1]

We could. The unreliability of memory is a recurring motif. If I ever get around to writing it, maybe I will include that in the sequel to "Sleepover." The problem is the series' writers don't fix anything--the viewers have to do all of the heavy lifting of getting this thing to make sense. But I should stop complaining. That lack of continuity is probably why there is so much great fic for this show, as opposed to the mostly formulaic offerings for other television series.