Tracey’s answer to “Will there be a sequel to Seventh Hour?” > Likes and Comments
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Awww... too bad about the epilogue. I would like very much to know about the characters' endings. Thank you so much.
I know! I struggled with it for a long time but it never felt right. Finally I had to give it up and move forward without it. Here's as far as it got:
Epilogue
FIVE YEARS LATER
Liv
I dance in the sunlight in shorts and a tank top, my skin as bare to the rays as I can be. I drink it in, swimming in it as I move. As I dip and jump, spurred on by the infectious melody of my little girl’s laughter.
She turned four months old yesterday. She’s never seen the sun. Never felt a breeze. Not until today. There will be a lot of firsts today, but for now it’s the sun. It’s the sky and the sea. It’s the world.
She’s my little nut, brown skinned with caramel curls covering her head, soft and downy. Her eyes are brilliantly blue, round like her daddy’s. She has his hands. His toes.
Friends and family pass by, moving in and out of the doors flung open behind us. They stop to make silly faces at her. To feel her hair. To kiss her head. It’s the second day we’re open to the outside and everyone is in high spirits. The festival is starting tomorrow. Grayson will have a booth this year, one he’s manning with Tae, but today we’re riding with the souk crew to the city. To Porton where the Eventide are coming in.
Aurora is about to meet her Uncle Gav.
“Ooh, Liv,” Holster winces sympathetically, stepping outside next to me. “Still having trouble losing that baby weight, huh? That’s rough.”
“Catch syphilis and die, Holster,” I sing to him sweetly.
“In front of the child,” he chides. “You’ve changed, Princess.”
“Unfortunately, you remain the same.”
“I’m eternal.”
“That is so depressing.”
“I think it’s inspiring.” He leans in closer, smiling at Aurora. “What do you think, lovely? Do you think I’m funny?”
Aurora stares at him in drooling, open amazement before bursting into a giggle, reaching for his face. He touches her chubby little hand, rubbing the back of it gently.
He smirks at me. “Your kid loves me. I bet that just kills you.”
I roll my eyes. “She also loves sucking on her own toes, so…”
“Did you make him wash his hands before he touched her?” Grayson asks, appearing with a little black bag. Aurora’s name is stitched across the front of it in yellow, a gift from Uncle Easton. “No telling where he’s been.”
“I’m cleaner than your wife’s mouth,” Holster tells him. He looks at me expectantly. “Tell him about the syphilis. He deserves to know.”
“Get lost, Holster,” Grayson growls, his limit reached almost immediately.
Holster grins, kissing Aurora’s hand before darting around me, evading Grayson’s angry glare.
“I don’t know why you humor that guy,” he grumbles.
“What are you talking about? He’s a friend.”
“That’s a friend?”
I shrug. “He’s not a great friend, but he’s fun.”
“You have a weird sense of fun.”
I bump his hip with mine playfully. “Yeah, I do.”
Grayson laughs, leaning in to kiss me sweetly. “I’m still getting used to you using ‘yeah’. And ‘shoulda’, that was a tough barrier for you to break.”
“This town has ruined me,” I lament lightly.
“Gav will barely recognize you. Especially with your short hair.”
“I’ll barely recognize him!” I cry excitedly. “He’s a Councilman now. I bet my father is so bored. Retirement cannot look good on him.”
He busies himself looking through the bag, a V between his brows. “Do you think he’ll come down to meet Aurora?”
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “He’s never come down before. Not even last time when I was pregnant, but he’s always on the Dasher. That says something. Gav says he arranges to be on whatever ship is going to port. He never did that before.”
“Before I stole you away to live in the wild?” he smirks.
I smile affectionately. “Something like that. Hey, do you have her hat? The one Karina gave her? She’s been in the sun long enough today.”
Grayson fishes it out of the bag, handing me the light pink fabric.
“It’s still weird to me that you use it,” he mutters.
He gets wary every time I ask for it. Like he thinks it’s loaded somehow. It’s been five years, Karina has been married to a chef in Thornbow for the last three, and they spent Christmas with us last year when she gave us the hat for Aurora. Grayson needs to calm down.
In my mind, Easton stayed a bachelor. He never married just because he didn't want to. He never felt like the type to settle down to me. I never imagined Liv's father forgiving her. He died bitter and regretful not long after her baby was born. Her brother, out from under his tyrany, found love and someone to spend his life with. So did Holster, surprisingly enough, though he never stopped being an a$$hole :)
Oh my gosh! This is so awesome! Thank you so much!
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Era
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May 10, 2016 06:54AM
Awww... too bad about the epilogue. I would like very much to know about the characters' endings. Thank you so much.
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I know! I struggled with it for a long time but it never felt right. Finally I had to give it up and move forward without it. Here's as far as it got:Epilogue
FIVE YEARS LATER
Liv
I dance in the sunlight in shorts and a tank top, my skin as bare to the rays as I can be. I drink it in, swimming in it as I move. As I dip and jump, spurred on by the infectious melody of my little girl’s laughter.
She turned four months old yesterday. She’s never seen the sun. Never felt a breeze. Not until today. There will be a lot of firsts today, but for now it’s the sun. It’s the sky and the sea. It’s the world.
She’s my little nut, brown skinned with caramel curls covering her head, soft and downy. Her eyes are brilliantly blue, round like her daddy’s. She has his hands. His toes.
Friends and family pass by, moving in and out of the doors flung open behind us. They stop to make silly faces at her. To feel her hair. To kiss her head. It’s the second day we’re open to the outside and everyone is in high spirits. The festival is starting tomorrow. Grayson will have a booth this year, one he’s manning with Tae, but today we’re riding with the souk crew to the city. To Porton where the Eventide are coming in.
Aurora is about to meet her Uncle Gav.
“Ooh, Liv,” Holster winces sympathetically, stepping outside next to me. “Still having trouble losing that baby weight, huh? That’s rough.”
“Catch syphilis and die, Holster,” I sing to him sweetly.
“In front of the child,” he chides. “You’ve changed, Princess.”
“Unfortunately, you remain the same.”
“I’m eternal.”
“That is so depressing.”
“I think it’s inspiring.” He leans in closer, smiling at Aurora. “What do you think, lovely? Do you think I’m funny?”
Aurora stares at him in drooling, open amazement before bursting into a giggle, reaching for his face. He touches her chubby little hand, rubbing the back of it gently.
He smirks at me. “Your kid loves me. I bet that just kills you.”
I roll my eyes. “She also loves sucking on her own toes, so…”
“Did you make him wash his hands before he touched her?” Grayson asks, appearing with a little black bag. Aurora’s name is stitched across the front of it in yellow, a gift from Uncle Easton. “No telling where he’s been.”
“I’m cleaner than your wife’s mouth,” Holster tells him. He looks at me expectantly. “Tell him about the syphilis. He deserves to know.”
“Get lost, Holster,” Grayson growls, his limit reached almost immediately.
Holster grins, kissing Aurora’s hand before darting around me, evading Grayson’s angry glare.
“I don’t know why you humor that guy,” he grumbles.
“What are you talking about? He’s a friend.”
“That’s a friend?”
I shrug. “He’s not a great friend, but he’s fun.”
“You have a weird sense of fun.”
I bump his hip with mine playfully. “Yeah, I do.”
Grayson laughs, leaning in to kiss me sweetly. “I’m still getting used to you using ‘yeah’. And ‘shoulda’, that was a tough barrier for you to break.”
“This town has ruined me,” I lament lightly.
“Gav will barely recognize you. Especially with your short hair.”
“I’ll barely recognize him!” I cry excitedly. “He’s a Councilman now. I bet my father is so bored. Retirement cannot look good on him.”
He busies himself looking through the bag, a V between his brows. “Do you think he’ll come down to meet Aurora?”
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “He’s never come down before. Not even last time when I was pregnant, but he’s always on the Dasher. That says something. Gav says he arranges to be on whatever ship is going to port. He never did that before.”
“Before I stole you away to live in the wild?” he smirks.
I smile affectionately. “Something like that. Hey, do you have her hat? The one Karina gave her? She’s been in the sun long enough today.”
Grayson fishes it out of the bag, handing me the light pink fabric.
“It’s still weird to me that you use it,” he mutters.
He gets wary every time I ask for it. Like he thinks it’s loaded somehow. It’s been five years, Karina has been married to a chef in Thornbow for the last three, and they spent Christmas with us last year when she gave us the hat for Aurora. Grayson needs to calm down.
In my mind, Easton stayed a bachelor. He never married just because he didn't want to. He never felt like the type to settle down to me. I never imagined Liv's father forgiving her. He died bitter and regretful not long after her baby was born. Her brother, out from under his tyrany, found love and someone to spend his life with. So did Holster, surprisingly enough, though he never stopped being an a$$hole :)
Oh my gosh! This is so awesome! Thank you so much!
