It’s amazing how you have traces of a memory lingering in your brain. I don’t know if I’m ever going to resolve this memory of mine. Yknow when you’ve had a problem, some misunderstanding, some misconception about the world, for many years, and then finally you work it out, by some experience you have of growing older?

But when I was young, probably in my early to mid primary school years, I read a book of a group of high school students who went to an island, perhaps a castle, on a boat. They all died, one by one. One of them had a ball rolled off the roof onto their head, another one had something to do with being pushed off a motor boat. By the end, the few surivvors had found the killer. It turns out the killer hated everyone else on the island because they had come first in their subjects, while the killer had come second in all his subjects. A picture was also featured towards the end displaying all the people, and the killer was torn from it. I believe the killer’s name was Napoleon. The few survivors ended up finding Napoleon and, I think, ferrying him off the island.

Sound familiar?

I reckon I read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None around Year 7 or 8. And I only realised that the earlier book I had read was a parody of And Then There Were None after I had read And Then There Were None. It was amazing. I had been trying to identify that book for years, and now I had found the book that it was based on.

Nevertheless, some things still disturb me. Why was I reading a parody of And Then There Were None in Year 3? And how do I remember it after all these years? And will I ever determine the identity of that book? I have a very good memory, but all good things fade.

I was reminded, again, of this enchanting tale when I watched the film on TV in 2021. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to solve this one. For the sake of my mind I hope I do. One of the reasons I created my blog was to help me verbalise my thoughts better, as well as to clear my mind of memories and experiences that are taking too much space. I store the randommest of memories in my mind - mainly of my interactions and experiences with other people - but also with stories and characters such as this tale, and I find it difficult to forget things. Over time memories become warped, biased, and I started writing a journal and my blog to try and maintain neutrality - so that if I ever deceive myself with false thoughts in the future, I can look back and confidently return to my genuine state of mind at the time of writing an entry.