In studies of memory, the word 'consolidation' names the process by which a labile new trace is stabilized into durable long-term storage. But a second, less intuitive sense has emerged. Each time a consolidated memory is retrieved, it appears to become briefly labile again, requiring a further round of stabilization to persist—a phenomenon termed reconsolidation. The implication unsettles the archival image of memory: recall is not a passive reading of a fixed record but an act that reopens the record to revision. A memory summoned is a memory momentarily at risk, and what returns to storage may differ subtly from what was withdrawn.