Imposter Syndrome

Guitar-hum thrummed in his body. Surrounded by coiling wires and sheet music, Billy wiped nervous sweat from his brow. Jeez. This is one tough gig.

"Billy!" The door opened.

Billy turned. The man scowled.

"You have to stop doing that," he said. "Your name's ‘Paul’ now."

"Right, right, sorry, Mr- um- I mean, Brian. I mean-".

The man frowned.

"You're not pretending to be him. You are him. You've gotta remember that. If someone thinks they recognise you, and they call that name... the jig could be up."

Billy nodded, chewing on his lower lip.

"And stop that. Paul doesn't do that, so you don't do that."

"I got it. Really. It won't happen again, I promise. It's just... hard." Man, it's really hard.

Paul. Paul. My name is Paul. It still felt a little weird. It was a name that evoked adoration from millions. And now it's mine.

Is it really, though? Still belongs to him, surely. His ghost, walking that long winding road.

The pressure weighed heavy. Or was it guilt over the theft? Help!

"Listen..." My voice won't crack, not now. "They're just... big shoes to fill, you know?"

"You knew that coming in. Don't you tell me you didn't." His gaze was piercing.

"Do you really think they'll buy it?" Paul asked. Millions of them. Screaming. What if they figure it out?

"I think so. It'll be easier, since the guys- you guys- have pulled back from live performances."

"D'you ever think they'll get back to that?" Just one gig might be kind of cool. A rooftop one. They'll never tell from down there.

He indulged in that thought for a moment. All those fans...

"You got this," Dammit the man was still talking. "You got the talent-" (Do I though?) "-you got the, the, the look now... The chop doc did a pretty good job. But if you're gonna make this work, with the spotlight on you... on us all... You gotta really own it."

The name. The identity. The soul.

He took a deep breath.

"I can do it. With a little help from my friends."

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Word count excluding title, subtitle, and authors notes: 366

Submitted on Wednesday 21st August at 11:34AM

A Year of Stories: I'm writing (and submitting, here) a story every day this year. This one continues my 234 day streak since 1st January.

Please consider lending your support to the other creators on this madcap "a story every day" adventure. They're putting out excellent content every day!

Rachel Deeming

Gerard DiLeo

The story behind the story: You've probably heard the conspiracy that Paul McCartney died and got replaced by a lookalike so the band could keep going. This little tale is based on that!

Thank you

Especially if you are one of the wonderful people who has been staunchly reading these daily scribbles since the start of the year. I see you, and appreciate you very much indeed!

If you enjoyed this one, the very best compliment you can give me is to share it, or read another!

Here's another one about musical conspiracy theories!

I've done a couple of stories on the subject of doppelganger as well:

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I guess I could have shoe-horned in a few more! Here they are:

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Thank you again!