Epilogue:
The wind whipped fiercely through Brooke's hair as she stared down at the two mounds of earth. She moved forward and placed a small bouquet of hand-picked violets on the mound with the freshly carved letters on the wooden headstone. The inscription read 'Joel Ryan Linders, beloved husband and loving father'.
Brooke gazed at the words expressionlessly, feeling nothing inside; no feeling of bitterness or hatred, yet no sadness or grief. To her, her father had died nine years ago. She had already said goodbye to him. The man she had lived with since then was a stranger who constantly tried to get over his wife's death by drinking and abusing his daughter. Brooke didn't feel any sorrow at his passing, only regret for the man he used to be.
She turned her attention to the second grave, and tears began flowing down her cheeks as she read the inscription. 'Lora Ann Linders, my darling wife and the mother of my child ~I love you.'
She brushed her hand over the faded letters and knelt down on her knees. "Mama," she whispered softly, "Daddy's with you now. I bet he's happier up dere den he was down heah. He missed you a lot. Dat's why he.did what he did. Don't be mad at him-I undahstood why he did it. An' please Mama, don't be angry wit' me for bein' happy now dat he's gone. It's just- now I can move on an' I don't have ta be scared no more.
"An' Racetrack loves me, so I'm real happy. You'd like Race, Mama, he's just like Daddy used ta be. He worries about me a lot, but not as much as he used to wit' Daddy an' all. He's real sweet, an' I- I love him Mama. Dere is no one I'd radder be wit' down here."
Brooke rubbed her eyes fiercely, "An' Mama, I have good friends down here, an' even a best friend. Calli Stowe's her name. She's kinda crazy sometimes, but we still love her." Brooke laughed despite her tears, "she's ovah da moon right now, in fact. She's so excited and happy now dat she an' Blink are together. Blink is Race's best friend. In some ways, I guess, all us newsies are like a big family."
Brooke was quiet, staring at the grave for a long moment. She finally spoke again softly, "You were right about dat too Mama. I've been thinkin' about what you used to say-remembah when you used to tell me to trust others? Dat I had to depend on other people every now an' den an' let people help me? Well I never did. I used ta depend on myself alone to deal wit' all my problems, even Dad. But all I ended up doin' was hurtin' myself an' everyone around me. But I t'ink I've finally realized why I nevah wanted to. It's because people hurt, Mama. What Daddy did ta me was physical, but if I let other people in and opened my heart to them, they could hurt me on the inside. And that pain would never go away Mama."
Brooke smiled suddenly, "In a way it's like playin' poker. If ya wanna get lots of money, you can't just keep taking the bet. You have to raise it a little each time. It's risky, but if ya don't do it you'll never know what you're missin' out on. An' so I t'ink I've finally learned da basic rules of life. In ordah to have the best life I possibly can, I hafta give people my heart and trust them not to break it. Ya know what, Mama? I've named it, too, so I don't forget."
Brooke gently set a handful of blue and purple forget-me-nots on the grave and stood up, smiling, "It's called raising the stakes."
THE END
Author's Final Note: *sniff* It's finished!!!!!! YAY!!!! Well, the next story in the series is Keeping Up the Act if you wanna read more. It's about three girls who come to Manhattan but hate the newsies for some secret reason. The first chapter is already posted, but you'll have to go to my little section on me to get to it. I've already written the first 3 chapters though, so I'll be posting them pretty soon. Thankyou ever so much to all my wonderful reviewers!!!! You guys are the reason I write!
Spark, Vix, Rae Kelly, Amber, Moods, Hotshot, Kicker, Ali, Reffy, Hailey, SparksdaNewsie, Falco Conlon, Asia, Ember, Sureshot Higgins, Tiger, newsietomboy and Reesie
*And a special thanks to Vix and Spark who have faithfully reviewed almost every single chapter! Thanks guys! Love ya!
The wind whipped fiercely through Brooke's hair as she stared down at the two mounds of earth. She moved forward and placed a small bouquet of hand-picked violets on the mound with the freshly carved letters on the wooden headstone. The inscription read 'Joel Ryan Linders, beloved husband and loving father'.
Brooke gazed at the words expressionlessly, feeling nothing inside; no feeling of bitterness or hatred, yet no sadness or grief. To her, her father had died nine years ago. She had already said goodbye to him. The man she had lived with since then was a stranger who constantly tried to get over his wife's death by drinking and abusing his daughter. Brooke didn't feel any sorrow at his passing, only regret for the man he used to be.
She turned her attention to the second grave, and tears began flowing down her cheeks as she read the inscription. 'Lora Ann Linders, my darling wife and the mother of my child ~I love you.'
She brushed her hand over the faded letters and knelt down on her knees. "Mama," she whispered softly, "Daddy's with you now. I bet he's happier up dere den he was down heah. He missed you a lot. Dat's why he.did what he did. Don't be mad at him-I undahstood why he did it. An' please Mama, don't be angry wit' me for bein' happy now dat he's gone. It's just- now I can move on an' I don't have ta be scared no more.
"An' Racetrack loves me, so I'm real happy. You'd like Race, Mama, he's just like Daddy used ta be. He worries about me a lot, but not as much as he used to wit' Daddy an' all. He's real sweet, an' I- I love him Mama. Dere is no one I'd radder be wit' down here."
Brooke rubbed her eyes fiercely, "An' Mama, I have good friends down here, an' even a best friend. Calli Stowe's her name. She's kinda crazy sometimes, but we still love her." Brooke laughed despite her tears, "she's ovah da moon right now, in fact. She's so excited and happy now dat she an' Blink are together. Blink is Race's best friend. In some ways, I guess, all us newsies are like a big family."
Brooke was quiet, staring at the grave for a long moment. She finally spoke again softly, "You were right about dat too Mama. I've been thinkin' about what you used to say-remembah when you used to tell me to trust others? Dat I had to depend on other people every now an' den an' let people help me? Well I never did. I used ta depend on myself alone to deal wit' all my problems, even Dad. But all I ended up doin' was hurtin' myself an' everyone around me. But I t'ink I've finally realized why I nevah wanted to. It's because people hurt, Mama. What Daddy did ta me was physical, but if I let other people in and opened my heart to them, they could hurt me on the inside. And that pain would never go away Mama."
Brooke smiled suddenly, "In a way it's like playin' poker. If ya wanna get lots of money, you can't just keep taking the bet. You have to raise it a little each time. It's risky, but if ya don't do it you'll never know what you're missin' out on. An' so I t'ink I've finally learned da basic rules of life. In ordah to have the best life I possibly can, I hafta give people my heart and trust them not to break it. Ya know what, Mama? I've named it, too, so I don't forget."
Brooke gently set a handful of blue and purple forget-me-nots on the grave and stood up, smiling, "It's called raising the stakes."
THE END
Author's Final Note: *sniff* It's finished!!!!!! YAY!!!! Well, the next story in the series is Keeping Up the Act if you wanna read more. It's about three girls who come to Manhattan but hate the newsies for some secret reason. The first chapter is already posted, but you'll have to go to my little section on me to get to it. I've already written the first 3 chapters though, so I'll be posting them pretty soon. Thankyou ever so much to all my wonderful reviewers!!!! You guys are the reason I write!
Spark, Vix, Rae Kelly, Amber, Moods, Hotshot, Kicker, Ali, Reffy, Hailey, SparksdaNewsie, Falco Conlon, Asia, Ember, Sureshot Higgins, Tiger, newsietomboy and Reesie
*And a special thanks to Vix and Spark who have faithfully reviewed almost every single chapter! Thanks guys! Love ya!