FICTION NOTICE: This is an original fictional entertainment story in the McPerry Films “Untrue Stories” collection. Characters, institutions and events are invented. It is not a factual news investigation.

A family portrait develops a new face each week.

The message

A photographer gives Akosua an old framed family portrait found in a second-hand shop. The photograph looks ordinary until her brother notices a stranger standing at the far edge.

A troubling discovery

By the following Friday, the stranger appears closer to the family. Akosua suspects someone is replacing the print and sets up a camera to watch the frame.

The trail

The recording shows nobody touching it, but the glass briefly reflects a room different from her own. A photographic restorer identifies the paper as a modern reproduction rather than an antique.

The cliffhanger

When Akosua removes the backing, she finds a handwritten instruction: “Ask your father about the fifth child.”

Previously unseen questions

Who is telling the truth? Which clue has been deliberately left behind? The next chapter follows the consequences of this discovery.

McPerry Films production note: This story is suitable for adaptation into a short scripted film. All persons and incidents are fictional.