The Girl With Five Watches

Epilogue

"Happy Birthday!" shouted everyone in the crowd who showed to help celebrate in the back yard.

Looking at the cake, it was amazing to see sixty candles. So much fire and the cake had not burned. Blowing candles wasn't easy as it used to be. Nothing is easy when you're old. But at least I still had my sense of taste. The cake was delicious.

"Hey, dad," greeted my son. "How's it feel to be sixty?"

Blushing, I began to laugh. The crowd was anticipating a speech. It was my job to give them one.

"It's truly an hour turning sixty. I know a lot of people complain about getting old and not being as young as they used to be. But let me just say that being old is a blessing. Life is a blessing. Every moment should be cherished. And I do cherish every moment. I've seen a lot of people come and go. So here's to getting old."

"To getting old," everyone shouted in unison.

As the party progressed, I began to open my gift. My eyes teared up when I saw the gift that my son gave me. The book that I had been trying to publish for so long. It was finally a dream come true. A real dream.

"My novel was finally published?" I asked in disbelief. My novel 'The Girl With Five Watches' was published?"

"Congratulations dear," stated Karla who lips pecked my own lips. "I love you so much."

...

Dr. Parker wasn't able to attend my birthday celebration. The next day I went with Karla to visit him at his retirement home. Sitting outside, he pulled himself on his wheelchair and we all sat at a table together to have lunch. Dr. Parker's skin had aged gracefully and yet, he looked exactly his age. He was fragile and yet, he was pure.

"It's wonderful to see you Jimmy," he laughed. "You finally turned sixty I hear?" Karla nodded with me. "And how are the two of you managing? How's your marriage?" He smiled with a couple missing teeth.

"Things are getting better," declared Karla. "A few bumps in the road. Did you know the novel is finally getting published?"

His graceful and aging face lit up like a child on Christmas. "After all these years huh? Sara would've been proud." With a happy sigh, he spoke again. "I can't tell you how much I truly miss her. She must be having a joyous time with Emily right now."

"Seeing her die was hard," I announced picking up my glass of water. "But her time on Earth was a blessing."

We enjoyed each other's company with the time we had left with the lunch. Once lunch was over, I handed Dr. Parker one of Sara's watches and kept one for myself.

...

Later that day, we stopped by the cemetery to pay our respects to Roger who died a couple weeks ago. Neither of us had much to say, but we did miss him.

"You know, I ran into him about ten years ago," announced Karla. "He was knocking at my door in the middle of the night and confessed his love to me. He told me that he missed me and that he made so many mistakes in his life. At the time, Conner had just died and the timing wasn't right. I know he felt that the timing was right, but I had a lot of grieving to do."

"The last time I saw Roger was at the wedding. I honestly couldn't believe he agreed to be the best man. It must've been painful for you to be a bridesmaid."

She took my hand and squeezed it. "It was. As much as my love for Conner had grown, I still loved Roger. But could you imagine causing a scene like that at the wedding? I couldn't do it. Conner had more stability. And honestly, Roger was afraid. Afraid to ever take initiative."

With our fingers connected, we decided to walk away from Roger.

"I'm glad we ran into each other five years ago," I claimed. "I almost forgot what love was until you reminded me."

She smiled and kissed my cheeek continuing to walk our way out of the cemetery. The wind blew against my hair and I could feel the warm presence of Sara. She was happy and I couldn't wait to see her again someday.

...

Karla's POV

The night was rainy. I had just gotten back from Conner's funeral and sat alone in my chair. How could I have lost Conner this early in life? I felt betrayed. Why would anyone want to see him dead? Why would anyone hate him so much? Why hadn't the police figured out who his murderer was?

Knock!

Opening the door, I saw none other than Roger standing in the rain and weeping. He asked to come in and I let him. He told me about his life in the last thirty years. He had joined the military immediately after Jimmy's wedding and eventually had a dishonorable discharge by his mid-twenties. For a few years until he was thirty, he had job after job and also married a woman. After a miscarriage, he left her and fled the country. He lived the party lifestyle in South America until his mid-thirties when he lost what he had. He claimed that the government was after him. Coming back to America, he spent the next decade living as homeless person, but thought of me every day. In his mid-forties, he married a sick woman who died four years later. And through her death, he became wealthy. He still thought of me everyday as he spent the next year tracking me down. And after telling me all this, I couldn't take him back. None of this felt right. He was a memory. He failed in so many ways. Should I have forgiven him? I told him that night that I did forgive him. And even though I forgave him, I had every right to say no.