Short Stories

A Monster Calls

Epilogue:

One Month After Conor's Mother Dies:

Lily waddled up the stairs toward Connor's front door, the bright flowers in her hand bouncing with every step she took. She raised a hand and knocked, once, twice, three times before it opened. Conor's Grandma stood in the doorway, a halo of brown hair swept across her shoulders, greying at the roots. She looked like she had aged 10 years since the last time Lily had seen her, the stress from the past month taking its toll.

"Conor is nearly ready, would you like to come in?"

She took the bundle of flowers from Lily and turned to the kitchen. Lily followed in behind dodging boxes and furniture, all ready for the moving truck. Conor's Grandma placed a glass of orange juice on the island bench and went about washing the bench near the sink.

"How is he?"

The old lady in front of her stopped scrubbing and sighed.

"It's pained him, taken its toll, but he'll be okay"

Lily could see the worry lines on her forehead and wondered if she'd been sleeping.

"How are you?"

Conor's grandmother gave her a small smile.

"Don't worry about me dear, keep your eyes on Conor for me hey?"

Lily nodded and turned her head when she heard someone scrambling down the stairs. Conor emerged from the hall like a hurricane with one shoe on and his tie crooked. His Grandma shook her head and handed him toast. He shoved the piece of bread in his mouth and grabbed Lily's arm in one sweeping motion, and dragged her out the back door.

"Thanks, Ms O'Malley!" Lily yelled after them.

She erupted into fits of giggles as Conor tried, and failed, to put his other shoe on while running and eating. All of which resulted in him rolling down the hill toward the church. Lily sprinted down after him, being careful not to slip from the morning dew. When she finally caught up to him he was laying sprawled like a starfish, at the base of an old yew tree. He had his eyes closed and for a split second, she thought he was unconscious until his face fell into a lazy smile. His blonde hair was in desperate need of a trim and a brush, but Lily didn't care as long as he was okay.

"The yew's beautiful, isn't it?"

Flashbacks flooded through Conor. Images of stories clouded in mist, a red-eyed monster pushing Harry into the wall, his Grandma's sitting room in ruins.

Conor opened one eye to look at her.

"It's a pain in the neck," he mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing"

Lily shrugged it off and ran her hand down the rough bark. The leaves and berries are bright due to the spring weather. She sat down next to Conor and sighed, pulling his foot up to tie his shoe. He sat up and watched her, they had become close again after his mother had died, that fateful day when the Monster finished his story, she had died at 12:07 exactly. Lily finished tying his shoe and moved to fix his tie. Conor had been miserable for the week following her funeral, but Lily had come and comforted him, pulling him from his pool of despair. Lily stood and held a hand to him.

"Let's go, before we're late"

Conor let her pull him up and they ran off to school laughing. For the first time in weeks, Conor felt hope, like everything was going to be okay. He felt like his mother was telling him to keep going, and that was enough for him. 

A/N: This is an epilogue I wrote for a book we read at school, it was a project and I was extremely happy with the way it turned out.