Karma ||H.S||

Epilogue

It's a little bitter sweet being back in my home town. Down the road from where I grew up. Able to look out from my front porch and see my favorite place in a short distance across the street. I've had a lot of time to think, to be alone with my thoughts and to figure out a lot that I need to, to move on to the next chapter in my life.

School let out over a month ago. I'm finally settling into a good routine and have done a few photo shoots for some of the families around the neighborhood. Dad had apparently made friends with the folks of Fairfield as soon as he moved here, and raved about how great of a photographer I was, giving me work as soon as I got home for the summer. Focusing on things that are important, is something my therapist in California told me to do. I needed to remind myself daily that setting small goals will help to achieve a sense of happiness and self worth for every time I met each goal, leaving me to always have something to strive harder for. And so delving into the photography world, getting my name out there, and giving myself more practice, just made sense. After all, I've decided that my plan is to open my own studio after I graduate next year. That is the ultimate goal.

Harry left for another Photography Workshop his Mom signed him up for, and has been gone since a few days after we got home. He's been traveling across Canada, which has made the weeks go by seemingly too slow for me to handle. I know that it's good for us to be apart, to show us that we can live life without each other. Because despite our time apart after everything that happened, we were still very much in each other's lives while we were still in school.

Every couple of days, he sends me a picture of where he's at. The scenery always blowing my mind. Our Country sure is a beautiful place and I can't help but be a little envious that I'm not there with him, experiencing what he is seeing and doing. But I know why I'm not and why I can't be. I am just thankful that he is wanting to share even just a little bit of his adventure with me, proving to me that I'm still thought of once in a while, and a reason to be even more okay with us being apart.

With Harry being gone and not having any friends on the Island, I've been spending a lot of time with Dad. This time, there was nothing to argue about. Nothing to disagree on, or any reason to leave at a moments notice. Knowing this, has put us in a good place. We have been able to just enjoy our time together and everything is comfortable.

We spent a week in Vancouver together the week after I got back from school, for the trial. Having to testify on the stand in front of a judge and the jury was harder than I thought it was going to be. The look on Ryan's face as I spoke out the truth of all he made me endure, gave me chills down my spine. But my testimony did exactly what it was meant to do. Not just to Ryan, but to all of those guys in that house. Ivy ended up pleading guilty to telling Ryan of my whereabouts and in turn was meant to receive a good sum of cash for it, which also, even though she was a victim as well as me, she is getting time in prison for being an accessory to a crime.

Other than Ivy, they all got life in prison. But most importantly, Ryan. That's all that mattered to me. Hearing the judge's words, as he told the court room that Ryan was found guilty of all charges against him and he was to spend the rest of his days behind bars, was the happiest moment of my life. Knowing that it was completely over and I would be free forever, is a moment in time that will forever be a life changing point. Nothing is more satisfying. It's exactly what I needed to be able to move on to anything.

Just as I remember growing up, when big cases erupt, my time with Dad dwindled because he had to focus on work. And a couple weeks ago, this is exactly what happened. I'm usually not allowed to know about these cases in the beginning, because they're confidential, but Dad felt the need for me to know a few fine details of what has been going on in this new case he's been on.