karlstad

Eli crouched low on the branch in the darkness, her claws digging into the bark. She watched, detached, as the last few people got off the bus and it pulled away from the curb. Two of them were talking and waving their arms at each other, clearly arguing about something. Their breath rose in a small cloud above them and dissipated slowly. The other one, a bit smaller, watched for a minute, then turned and walked down the darker path towards Eli. Her muscles tensed. She calculated how long it would take him to reach her, as the other two, still talking loudly, went off on the main path.

He dropped into his chair, his mind spinning, trying to process what he was seeing. “Impossible! Impossible! How can this possibly be?” He saw the sudden look of concern on the child’s face as she saw his reaction.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! But I had to do something! I had to make you believe me…” She quickly brought her arms back down to her sides.

Eli and Oskar walked slowly across the courtyard, leaving footprints in the still-falling snow. They had made their final choice this afternoon, and waited until well after dark to set out from their little apartment. The Biology Building at Karlstad University was barely visible through the snow as they turned onto the well-lit walkway towards the main entrance. Oskar could see the lights in the window on the second floor, where Professor Dawson’s office was located.

I have always thought that there must be a way to write an epilogue to this story that is grounded (as much as possible) in reality, and still gives Oskar and Eli a happy ending. I have tried, without much success, defending such a position in various threads. I don’t think I convinced anyone that the artistic, fairytale quality of the story, so beautifully crafted by JAL and TA, wouldn’t be compromised by any finagling with such boring worn-out ideas as blood banks, voluntary donors, DNA replication, etc., but I just couldn’t shake the idea.