It's been 18 years. 18 years since a dear friend I had named Johnny Cade and my boy Dally had died and I had his kid, all alone. Dally and I had some fun times when we were kids, drinking, stealing, smoking, well heavy on the smoking part. I smoked too much and oh look, I got cancer. Lung cancer. I'm gonna be dead soon and my son, Houston is gonna be left to himself at only eighteen and one month. Houston Winston is my little boy. We've been living in Texas since I found out I was pregnant. I knew the gang Dally and I knew would wanna help, but I hadn't spoken to them in 18 years, and they didn't know about Houston. Houston was born in Dallas, ironic isn't it? He's seen pictures of his dad, and I know he misses him.
"Ms. Y/l/n? Your son is here to see you." The nurse entered my room with Houston behind her. I looked up from the sealed letters I held in my lap.
"Houston, come here." I beckoned him over with open arms. Houston embraced me tightly, nearly crying. I thought I was gonna cry too, he looked so much like his daddy.
"Mom, the doctors told me, t-that you don't have m-much left. Is that true?" He whispered with tears being shed.
"Yeah. I'm going soon, you know I called you here to distribute my will, right?" I smiled at him as best as I could.
"Mama, no. No, no, no, no!" He cried out in agony, dropping to the side of my bed.
"Houston, I have a set of directions for you, okay? Go to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Then, in this little letter I have the directions to a house where you will find someone named Ponyboy. Now with Ponyboy, you give him this letter. He'll know how to help you. Then you and him both go to a storage unit called 'the Time Capsule' and you'll use the keys I left in the envelope with my letter to you. I love you, Houston. You're going to be on your own, and you'll get about $50, 000 from me, so I guess it'll be worth putting up with me, huh?" I croaked out barely containing my coughs.
"Mom, I'm gonna miss you. You gave me everything, I love you Mama, I do. Even without dad you gave me everything." Houston held my hand. "God I don't know why I'm crying, I ain't ever cried since I was a kid." He laughed through his tears, and I laughed with him.
"Tears stream down your face when you loose something you cannot replace." I breathed out those words before I heard my monitor beeping rapidly and my son crying out for help. My vision swirled and my view was nothing but black for a minute. I, y/n l/n had died at 35 years old, on July 7th, 1983.
"Wake up, stupid." My eyes snapped open and I shot up. I looked and saw Dally. It was Dally all right, and when I looked at myself through the mirror I kept on my bedside table at the hospital, I was 17 years old again. "Well, kid. What are ya waiting for? Let's ditch this place." Dally walked over to my bed and hoisted me up, pulling me to my feet before kissing me passionately.
"Dallas, I-" I tried to speak but he shushed me.
"You're dead, sweetheart. There ain't nothing much you can do but move on." He we walked into a bright light, with him wearing his St.Christopher, brown leather jacket, and blue jeans, then his skull ring still on my finger. Still there, as it was all those years ago. I looked back one last time to see my son being torn away from my lifeless body, screaming for me to wake up with the letters in his hand.
