Epilogue

Juliet Matthews stared blankly across the street. She hadn’t talked to Ida in forever. Ida had deserted her for Cliff. She felt horrible when that happened. Depressed. She cut herself. She had even thought she hated Ida.

But now what?

The police were down the street, talking to Aunt Tracy. Juliet could just barely make out what they said.

“Ida. Ida Cambell!”

“Ida Cambowl? I don’t know any Ida’s! Why should I care about someone’s body I’ve never heard of? I tell you you’re at the wrong house!”

They shook their heads, and continued arguing with her.

So was that it? Was that all there was left of Ida? A memory? One only shared by Juliet? Maybe a faint one that her father carried, but he was in prison. Was Juliet the only one in the end to care for Ida?

Cliff was gone. They took his body out last night. Ida and Austin were found washed up at the beach, hand in hand. 

Juliet heard about it from her mother, and she ran outside right away. She said she was just walking around the neighborhood, but she was crying. She was bawling her eyes out. 

In fact, they were still red and puffy. 

But that was enough crying. What happened, had happened. Now, she looked down at her car keys, and twirled them in her fingers. A small smile crossed her face, and she strode back up the street to get to her car. 

The police officers still argued with Aunt Tracy. How were they supposed to tell her that Ida had washed ashore when she didn’t even remember Ida? How could they possible tell her anything?

The frail old woman just continued to deny it and deny it. She had no memory of the poor girl with the short dyed hair and the eyebrow piercing. 

The officers couldn’t believe something like this had happened, either. They had found Austin’s car abandoned in the water, then the power came back on the next morning, and they got a call about a dead body. Cliff’s body.

Then there were the two teens to worry about. Austin and Ida. Then they were found washed ashore. Apparently, they had been lost during the storm, and must have gotten swept away from the current.

“So, fine! This Ida, just what do you want?”

“Ma’am, she’s your niece, and you may not remember that, maybe, maybe not. But she is.”

“I’ve never met her, though!”

“Alright, we’re just saying that she’s your brothers kid, and that she was out in the ocean.”

“What happened, exactly?”

“We’re not sure. Either they got swept out in a car accident somehow, or they jumped. We’ve found some evidence of a potential match up on the cliffs in Shoreville.”

“I don’t know her, but I do hope brothers kid’s OK! I wonder how he’s doing... maybe I’ll give him a call sometime.”

“Good’ay, ma’am.”

The two walked off, trying to forget that her father was in jail, and she didn’t really have anyone at the moment. Her aunt was certainly not fit for taking care of a teenager. They walked all the way back to their car, and sat in before talking again.

“Thank God the water was up so high!”

“But why? If it wasn’t, then they wouldn’t have been washed out to the ocean.”

“They jumped.”

“Oh! You know?!”

“I’ll bet they did! Think of some of the evidence! A Mr. Walters from out in Shoreville said he saw a flash of lightening strike right near this kid as he ran through the woods. He said he thought it looked like Austin. You know, Austin Carter, the one that JUMPED!”

They had completely ignored that Bryan wasn’t on his property, but someone else’s, simply because of the seriousness and vitalness of the information. 

“Alright, so they could have jumped...”

“And thank God the water was up, otherwise they would’ve hit those rocks!”

“It is a miracle that those kids lived.”

“It is!”

 

 

And the Juliet rolled past them, and her smile grew as she turned left. She was heading directly into the city, to Turner Memorial Hospital. 

Finally, her smile grew into a full cheek-to-cheek, where she flashed her pearly white teeth. She giggled a little. A mouse like giggle, and pressed harder on the gas.

Something was so great about today. Something was just so amazing. She was going to see Ida, who was in a coma. And Austin, too. She was going to pray with all her might and thank God that they lived. 

Actually, the miracle of their survival encouraged her to start praying. Even now, she twiddled a rosary in her fingers, and thanked God that her friends were not dead. Her only friends. Because without friends, where would she be herself? 

Nowhere.

Friends were almost everything. They were love, and love was vital to survival. Immensely vital. 

Without them... she didn’t even want to think about that, because it might just have been Austin’s situation. Or Cliff’s. Or Ida’s.

Everyone of them had a string of actions and events that had led them to where they were now. The hospital. The coroners office. 

That string of events was their life, and it was all caused because of unintentional actions that were so small that they wouldn’t seem like they could potentially change anything. But they did. And that was life. 

Cliff’s life was mainly centered and preoccupied on the loss of his fiancé, and how he wanted to make up for that. It ended in a sick game. And act. A fetish. And eventually ended in his demise. His death. His end. 

Ida’s was mainly centered around her parents past. That was what got her into it. Then, it switched, and became a preoccupation over Cliff. Finally, it became a love for Austin.

Austin’s life was mainly centered on a wreckage. An aftermath. His brothers death. His old life. Samantha. Not having friends. That all changed, though, and turned into a wanting. A desire. A need to be something more than just another person. Cliff’s lifestyle influenced this. Then that led him to a hatred for all of mankind, because of what it did to him. Then, it transformed into a love for Ida. I love that sent him over the edge of a cliff to try and protect her from him.

And the therapist was right. Ida was an adult. Even more so now. Austin was an adult, more than just legally. Juliet was an adult. In fact, they had seen more than some would in their entire lives. They had all been through so much. Witnessed so much. 

Now, they were where they were now. 

The thing was, though, that was fine. Because it was life. It was the present, and the past was the past. The past didn’t matter anymore. Only moving forward was what mattered, because that was all that was left. That was all any of them had anymore.  

Because their pasts had clearly failed each of them, so where else could they turn? Only to the future. 

But that was good. The future was good. If you only looked forward, you didn’t have to dwell on the past. On what had happened that led you to where you were now. If you did dwell on the past, then you would surely fall off the train, and who knows how long it would take to catch back up to the caboose? How long would it take to catch the train? Catch life?

And the caboose was far from the front. It was far from being the engineer. From being in control.  

But if you were looking forward, then you could easily be the engineer. The conductor. Be in control. Of life. Of everything.

And now Austin and Ida were in a coma. They were subconsciously looking forward. Their past was destroyed. Completely destroyed. Now, the future was left, and they knew that. They knew now how to look forward, and not dwell, and how it was such an important tool in surviving in life. In the game called life. Now, they could only move forward.

And when Austin woke up, his parents would be there, waiting for him. He would tell them how much he didn’t want to go back. Or maybe how much he did want to go. 

What was important was that he would tell them the truth. He would be honest. Completely honest, because he had learned his lesson about lies. Honestly was only something that could be learned very positively. 

Positive outlooks were something that Austin was beginning to grasp the hang of. And unlike Cliff, Austin knew true honesty, because he had learned and seen that fake honestly in Cliff. The shadow. 

So even though their tale was coming to an ending, and settling down, it was not over. It was not ended, not yet, anyway.  Maybe it would never completely end. 

Because you would always learn lessons from your mistakes. Your scars. And they’d heal. They’d become a positive memory. Like a burn scar from a stove, and a child who now knows not to touch the stove, they would remember what had happened. They would learn from it. They would still have their horrific memories. They would still keep them, and they’d keep their scars.

Scars make good memories. 

So, so very true. 

And though the future was unpredictable and uncertain, and though it was all unintentional, and anything could possible happen, Ida would never, never, never let Austin go. Never again. Not like she did before.

And Austin wouldn’t let go either. Never. That was for sure. 

And the three that were left. The survivors. They would become the three strongest of friends. 

Juliet looked out onto the city, just as the sun hit it, and gave everything a sandy-red hue. And it was a beautiful day. 

As Juliet looked around, and in her mirrors, the sun gave everything a perfect balance of shadow and light.

Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets. ~Arthur Miller