The Wilderness

Conclusion

"Jason?! Jason was alive?!" Jared exclaims. I nod, smiling slightly.

"So, he was the other survivor," Elly realizes, "How'd he find you? Wait, did he reach the city?"

"Yep, he did, just as he said he would," I answer, "It took him quite a while, but he made it. And he led the search party back to the mountain-"

"But you weren't there," Jared reminds me.

"No. Alex, Ally, and I had left long before then. But he knew that we would be following the river, so he and the search crew followed the river, looking for us. That's when he found me."

"What about Joe?" Elly asks.

"I don't know. People say I was probably hallucinating, but I know I wasn't. I did see him...but I guess he died," I answer. That has always haunted me through all these years. Sometimes, I wonder if maybe I was hallucinating. But I know I hadn't. It was real.

"Or maybe he's still out there, living on his own in the wild...like Tarzan," Jared's eyes glow at the thought.

"Yeah right, go on dreaming Mowgli," Elly rolls her eyes.

"Who's Mowgli?" Jared asks. I shake my head, smiling at their antics. A sudden knock at the door brings me to my feet, something which now takes ten seconds to do, and I open the front door.

"Hi Dad, the kids were okay I suppose? You didn't call anyway," John says.

"No, they were great, as always," I answer. He smiles, and Elly and Jared join us at the door.

"Dad! Grandpa just told us the coolest story ever!" Jared exclaims excitedly.

"Oh really?" John asks. I suddenly wonder if he and Lauren would have preferred for me to have asked for their permission first to tell the kids my story.

"Yep, he told us about you-know-what," Jared grins knowingly. John gives me a confused look.

"He told us about the plane crash when he was fifteen," Elly explains. John looks at me, in obvious shock.

"Are you sure Dad?" He asks me, and I know he's asking if I believe Jared and Elly are mature enough to handle the severity of my experience. I nod in reply.

"Dad? I never want to be on a plane again," Jared tells his father, my son. It had taken years before I allowed myself to trust others, to get to know others out of my family. I had been so afraid that I was lose yet another loved one, that I hardly allowed myself to live. It wasn't till I met Melina that I finally opened up. I had been twenty-three when I first met her, and we married two years later. But even then I still kept mostly to myself. Melina was the only one I could truly open my heart and thoughts to. And even though I had always wanted kids of my own, it took sixteen years before Melina was finally able to convince me we should have some. I was afraid I wouldn't be a good father, but mostly I was afraid of losing them, as I had lost Alex, Lola, Ally...

"Okay kids, Mom's waiting in the van. Say goodbye to Grandpa," John said, as he set his hand tenderly on my shoulder for a moment. "Goodnight Dad."

"Goodnight John," I say back. I look at Jared and Elly.

"Goodnight Grandpa," Elly says softly, hugging me. I hug her back and kiss the top of her head.

"Goodnight Elly," I reply. Jared hugs me next.

"Goodnight Grandpa, thanks for the awesome story," Jared says. Elly nods in agreement.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I say. With that they leave. I close the door.