@awnlee jawkingI never read it (I never even heard of it), but the Google AI found the following:
The Man in the Margin: A Tale of Self-Awareness
In the quaint town of Willow Creek, where the days moved with predictable regularity, lived a man named Arthur Finch. Unlike his neighbors who went about their lives with blissful ignorance, Arthur had an unusual secret: he knew he was a character in a story.
It started subtly. A recurring dream where he saw himself from a distant perspective, a voice whispering the plot points of his life, a strange sensation of déjà vu that was more like déjà vécu, as if he'd already lived this moment before. As the awareness grew, Arthur began to notice the subtle patterns, the convenient coincidences that always seemed to propel him towards a dramatic climax.
Arthur tried to ignore it, to live as if his life was just his own. But the more he tried to push it away, the more the seams of his reality started to show. He would catch glimpses of the narrator's voice in the wind, see the foreshadowing in the setting sun, and feel the narrative tension building like a tightening noose around his neck.
This knowledge brought a peculiar isolation. He couldn't confide in anyone, not even his wife, Mary. Who would believe a man who claimed to be a fictional character? The fear of being labeled insane only pushed him further into the margins of his own life, watching his story unfold from the sidelines.
One day, a new family moved into the house across the street. The daughter, a bright young girl named Lily, had a curious habit of staring at Arthur with an intensity that made him feel like he was being observed, not just seen. He found himself drawn to her, perhaps because she seemed to possess an almost uncanny understanding of him, a silent recognition of his "otherness."
When Lily finally asked him about his strange demeanor, Arthur was surprised. He told her about his secret, not expecting her to believe, yet she listened with a contemplative gaze. "I think it's cool," she said, "like you're a superhero who can see the whole story."
Lily's acceptance gave Arthur a newfound sense of purpose. He decided to use his knowledge to subtly influence his story, to make choices that were not just dictated by the plot, but also by his own will. He started small, by choosing to take a different route to work, by saying "no" when he usually would say "yes."
As Arthur began to navigate the narrative with a bit more agency, he discovered that the story was not a rigid script, but a tapestry woven with possibilities. He could still be a character, but he could also choose to weave his own threads into the fabric of his life.
The Man in the Margin, once a passive observer of his own story, now started to actively participate, reminding everyone that even in a world of predetermined narratives, there's always a space for free will, even for a character who knows he is just that - a character.