Written by Maru
Based on some situations originated by James Cameron.
It was a warm Saturday afternoon
in Chippewa Falls. Like in many other small towns, on weekends people liked to
take long naps after lunch. But that day was different.
It had been a month since people
had read about the sinking of the Titanic, but nobody in that small town had
paid much attention to it. Until that day.
Everybody in the town was shocked
when they read that one of the people who had died that night in April was
someone they knew, someone who had grown up among them. Ever since the list had
been published about a week ago, the community had been skipping naptime to
gather in the city’s square to talk about the situation.
"How can we be sure that
this Jack is the one we knew? Our Jack Dawson left us five years ago," a
woman said.
"Yes, and we are not even
sure that he didn’t die in that fire…"
"But his family survived.
Don’t you remember?"
"Of course I remember! But I
still think that it would be almost impossible that he survived. Besides, it
has been five years since we last heard from him. If he was alive, don’t you
think he would have stayed here?"
"I guess you’re right. Poor
Jack…he was so young!"
They were so into their
conversation that no one heard someone entering the square.
"Eh…excuse me," the
girl who had just arrived said.
The owner of a local business, a
middle-aged man with a kind face, went to where she was and asked her politely
what she wanted.
"Eh…this is hard. My name is
Rose Dawson. I’m Jack Dawson’s wife…"
"Jack’s wife? What a
coincidence! We were just talking about him!" an old lady said.
"Jack got married?
Unbelievable! See, Mary, I told you that it wasn’t the Jack that we knew. Henry
and Katherine will be so happy when they hear the news…"
"Henry and Katherine? Jack’s
parents? I thought they were dead," Rose said.
"Dead? Oh, no. They’re as
alive as you and me, Mrs. Dawson. We all thought that Jack was the one who had
died. And speaking of Jack, where is he?"
Without being able to answer that
question, Rose burst into tears. Jack had told her that he had no friends or
family there, but now it turned out that apparently everybody in town was
waiting for him. What could she do? She had to tell someone the truth--at least
his parents.
"Mrs. Dawson, is everything
all right?" a man asked.
"Yes, yes. Everything is
fine. Could you please tell me where the Dawsons live? There’s something they
must know."
The owner of the business gave
her the address.
"Mrs. Dawson, are you sure
everything’s fine? Where’s Jack?" he asked.
"I…I should tell Henry and
Katherine first. It wouldn’t be fair to do it the other way around…sorry."
And with that, she turned around and left.
*****
Fifteen minutes later, Rose was
sitting in a small parlor, studying her in-laws. Henry looked exactly like his
son, except for the eyes. He had brown eyes, while Jack had inherited his
mother’s eyes. They both seemed very kind, and invited Rose to come in without
even asking for her name.
"So, what can we do for you,
miss? I’m sorry. What did you say your name was?" Katherine asked.
"Look, I’m going to be
completely honest to you. My name is Rose DeWitt Bukater, but…"
"DeWitt Bukater? Why does
your name sound familiar to me? I know! You were Caledon Hockley’s fiancée,
right? I read it in the newspaper," Jack’s mother said.
"Oh, now I know. But, wait a
minute. I thought that Caledon Hockley’s fiancée died on the Titanic…"
Henry Dawson added.
"Please, let me explain. You
are right, I was supposed to marry Cal. He, my mother, and I boarded the
Titanic to come back to the States for the wedding, but something happened to
us during the trip. I mean, other than the iceberg. During the second night, I
met someone--someone who changed my life completely. He made me realize that I
couldn’t let them control me, that I had to break free." Rose paused, not
sure of how to continue her story.
"You met someone who changed
your life? That’s so romantic," Katherine helped her. "Henry and I
have always dreamt of going on a ship…but please, continue with your story."
"Well…this is hard! This man
died on the Titanic. I wanted to stay with him, but he pushed me into a boat
and I couldn’t do anything…I…I’m so sorry."
For a moment, nobody spoke. Rose
was too afraid to face the other two and complete her story. She hadn’t
expected that they would be alive! They were supposed to be dead! The couple
was also quiet, perhaps intuiting what was coming next.
Finally, Henry knelt next to
Rose, and asked her softly, "This…this man you knew…was his name Jack?
Jack Dawson?"
Although she wasn’t looking at
him, she could sense the unhappiness in his voice. It was pretty obvious that
he knew the answer, but was unable to take it until someone told him.
"Yes," she whispered.
She heard a gasp from Katherine.
"Jack? My Jack? I…" But
she couldn’t finish the sentence because she burst into tears. Henry hurried
next to her, giving Rose a chance to explain her story.
"He told me that he was born
here, and that his parents had died in a fire when he was fifteen. He also told
me that he had neither friends nor family here, so he decided to leave. But I
couldn’t believe him…he was so wonderful! I decided to come here to make sure
that someone heard about his death."
"But when you arrived, they
told you that we were alive. That was surely a great shock to you, right?"
the woman asked, and Rose was surprised to see that she was smiling through her
tears.
"Yes. I introduced myself as
Rose Dawson, Jack’s wife, and they asked me if I had something to do with you.
I’m sorry. Now I realize that I was wrong."
"No, Miss DeWitt Bukater. It
was perfect. You really loved Jack; you don’t have to be a genius to see that.
You two couldn’t get married because something beyond your control appeared in
your way."
"So…you are not mad at
me?" Rose asked shyly.
"What for? For making our
son fall in love? For coming here and telling us the truth? No, sweetie, we are
not mad at you."
"You have no idea how much
that means to me. Thank you."
"No. Thank you. If it
weren’t for you, we would probably live the rests of our lives not knowing for
sure what happened to our son."
"Come on. Everything will be
fine," Katherine said, and hugged her.
Rose was crying. She had been
fighting the tears back for the whole afternoon, and now…it was just that
Jack’s parents seemed to be such great people. It was so unfair that they had
lost their son. And it was also unfair that their son had left without knowing
that he had a family. Perhaps if Jack had stayed, he would be alive right
now…but he hadn’t. He was dead, and Rose would have to accept it.
For a while, nobody said a word,
but then Henry realized something.
"Oh, my God. Emily. We have
to tell her."
"Oh, you’re right. My God.
She’ll be devastated. She won’t believe it. She won’t. How are we going to do
it?"
"Emily? Who’s Emily?"
"Jack’s younger sister. They
loved each other when they were kids. Then our house caught on fire, and we all
thought that Jack was dead," Henry said.
"Except for Emily. She
always said that her brother was all right. And you know what? I think I
thought that, too. Deep inside, I think I always knew that Jack was safe. But
now…Emily won’t believe it. She’ll be so confused," his wife added.
"How are we going to tell
her?" the man asked again.
"I’ll tell her. You take
Rose for a walk or show her a room where she can stay. Yes, Rose. You are
staying."
Rose tried to decline, but the
woman had already made her decision. Suddenly, they heard the door being
opened, and Henry hurried outside the room, taking Rose with him.
"You won’t believe what
they’re saying, Mom," Emily said as she entered the room.
Katherine didn’t reply. She knew
exactly what they were saying, but Emily was unaware of the situation yet.
"I have no idea," she
lied.
"They’re saying that Jack is
dead, and that his wife is in town. Can you believe such a thing? I thought
they were tired of telling those lies about Jack."
"Emily, honey. Please, have
a seat. We need to talk."
"What’s wrong, Mom? Why
aren’t you laughing?"
"Those horrible things
they’re saying…they’re true. Jack’s really dead."
"No! You are lying! You’ve
always said that he was dead. But he isn’t. I can feel it. Mom…why are you
saying such things?"
"Does the name Titanic say
something to you? It’s the ship that sank about a month ago. Jack won a ticket,
and was on it. He…"
"No. I can’t believe it. Who
told you that?"
"His widow. He met a girl on
the ship, and they got married. She came here to tell the people in Chippewa
Falls about Jack, but she was told that we weren’t dead. Apparently, Jack told
her about the fire."
"Well, tell this girl that
she’s wrong. I even doubt that she is really Jack’s widow. And I really doubt
that she met him. Perhaps she came here because she wanted to get money from
us."
"Emily…look around. Do you
really think that someone would be interested in extorting money from us?"
She was right. The Dawsons lived
in a comfortable house, but it wasn’t very luxurious. As a matter of fact,
before meeting Jack, Rose would have found it quite ugly.
"I…I won’t believe it. Sorry
to disappoint you."
"Em…" her mother
started.
"Mother, drop it. I refuse
to believe it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to lie down."
She left, leaving her mother to
think. Katherine knew that her daughter was aware of the fact that her brother
wasn’t going to come back. But she also knew that Emily was too stubborn to
admit it.
*****
Meanwhile, Rose and Henry were
walking through the streets of Chippewa Falls. People were staring at them, but
they didn’t bother them. They were too busy concentrating on Jack.
"He was a great artist. Did
you know that?" he asked.
"Yes. He showed me some of
his work. They were beautiful! He had a gift. He saw people."
"Ever since he was a kid, he
went to that hill over there…" He pointed it out. "…and sat for
hours, drawing. Many people asked to buy his drawings, but he always refused,
saying that he didn’t do it for the money."
"But eventually he decided
to sell them when he was in Europe."
"Jack was in Europe? I can’t
believe it. What else did he tell you? Can you tell me?"
Rose began to talk about
everything. She told Jack’s father everything she knew about his son, which
wasn’t much, but Henry appreciated it. Once she had finished, the man began to
tell her everything else about the young man.
"His birthday is…I mean,
was, on January twenty-eighth. He was born on a Saturday at home. When he was a
kid, he didn’t like school very much, but he was a good student, and everyone
liked him. When he was fifteen, our house caught on fire, and no one saw him
after that."
"He thought you had
died."
"So did we. We weren’t at
home at that time. Katherine, Emily, and I had been invited by one of our
neighbors to have tea. Jack, on the other hand, wasn’t back from school yet
when we left, so we couldn’t tell him."
"When he returned, he saw
that the house had burned out and assumed that you were inside…"
"That was what probably
happened."
They remained in silence for a
while. Why was life so unfair? Why did bad things often happen to good people?
"Do you want to go back?
It’s getting late, and Katherine is probably cooking…"
"About that…I don’t think I
can accept your offer. I should probably get a room in a hotel."
"No, Rose. You are staying
with us. We owe you so much…"
"But…"
"I’m not going to change my
mind. Besides, Kate would kill me if she knew her daughter-in-law was spending
a night in that horrible inn."
"Fine. I’ll stay. Thank
you."
*****
When they got to the Dawsons’
house, they found Katherine in the kitchen, cooking dinner.
"How did she take it?"
her husband asked.
"Ah…just like we thought she
would. She needs some time to assimilate it."
"May I have a word with her?
Perhaps I can make her understand…"
"Oh, I wouldn’t do that.
Emily isn’t exactly a nice person when she’s angry."
"I don’t care. She deserves
to know the whole truth. It’s the only way she’ll understand."
"Are you completely sure?
You’ve done enough…"
"I’m sure, Mr. Dawson.
Where’s Emily’s bedroom?"
"Henry. Call me Henry. And
Emily’s room is upstairs, the second door on your right."
"Thank you. I’ll see what I
can do."
Rose went upstairs and directly
to her sister-in-law’s bedroom. She didn’t receive any answer, so she decided
to open the door.
"Get out," the girl
said as she entered the room.
"I assume you are Emily, are
you not?"
"I am. And who are
you?" Jack’s sister asked.
"I’m Rose."
"Ah…the one who’s saying
that Jack’s dead. Let me tell you something--he’s not. If you are so sure, it
is because you killed him, but I’m sure Jack’s alive."
For a moment, Rose remained
speechless. Deep inside, she felt that she was responsible for Jack’s death,
but she was also determined to make this girl understand the truth.
"You are wrong. Jack’s dead.
But I didn’t kill him. Well…not in the way you are thinking."
"What do you mean? That you
really killed him? I can’t believe that…sorry. Tell my mother that her plan is
not going to work. Jack is alive."
"Emily…I saw him dying! I
wish I hadn’t, but that’s the truth."
"Really? And how did he
die?" the girl asked sarcastically.
"About a month ago,
newspapers all over the country were talking about a ship that sank during its
maiden voyage…"
"You mean the Titanic? So, I
guess you’re saying that my brother was on it. Come on! That’s the best you can
come up with?" she asked, but she was suddenly paler.
Rose told her the whole story,
but she made it sound as if she and Jack had gotten married during the trip.
She also omitted the parts about her mother and Cal. When she had finished,
Emily was white-faced.
For a short while, the two girls
sat in silence, but the silence was broken by the younger.
"I…I have to congratulate
you. I wasn’t expecting such a convincing story. I…I almost bought it!"
"Emily…Jack’s not going to
return. I’m sorry."
"How do you know? You got
safely in a boat, and you didn’t see him after that, right? Perhaps he got into
another boat…perhaps he was rescued from the water…"
"Do you really think I
didn’t check? I looked all over for him--everywhere. But he wasn’t on the
Carpathia. His name wasn’t on the list…"
"Maybe he was on another ship."
She was starting to lose hope.
"There wasn’t another ship.
The Carpathia was the only one that picked us up…"
Emily didn’t say a thing for a
while, so Rose had a chance to look at her. She looked exactly like her
mother--long, dark hair, not too tall, thin, and blue-eyed. The only similarity
she had to Jack was the eyes. They both had inherited their mother’s eyes.
"My father…" the
younger started. "My father once took my brother to the lake. Why, and
what happened?" She asked her that, because she remembered that her
brother used to tell everyone that story. So, if he had really met Rose, she
was sure that he had told her about that.
"They went to go ice
fishing, and Jack fell through some thin ice."
When she heard that, Emily began
to cry uncontrollably, and Rose immediately hugged her.
"Why? He was such a good
person…and so young! Why did he have to die? Why did he have to go?" the
younger said through her sobs.
"I know. I know. Trust me.
I’ve been asking myself the same question for a month. I swear, I would be glad
to change places with him. I should be dead, not him…"
"No," the younger said,
suddenly serious. "Jack pushed you into a boat. He could have gotten
inside one himself, but he didn’t. He saved you. He wanted you to live."
"You really think that? So,
I guess you hate me."
"I should hate you. You may
be the cause of my brother’s death, but…I don’t know how to explain it, but
something inside me tells me to trust you. Jack wanted you to live."
At this point, it was Rose who
began to cry. Finally, she had shared her memories. She was no longer the only
one who remembered Jack Dawson.
For the next half hour, the two
girls began to talk about Jack. Emily told Rose about his childhood, and Rose
shared the things Jack had told her during the voyage.
They began to do the same every
day, so as to keep Jack’s memory alive forever. Never could they have imagined
what would happen a couple of months later…
*****
At the beginning, Jack’s death
was the only topic of conversation in town, but then they began to lose
interest.
Now, nearly three months after
Rose’s arrival, only she and Emily talked about him every day. It was always
the same routine. When Emily arrived home from school, the two girls ran
upstairs and locked themselves in one of the bedrooms, where they remained for
hours.
That day in August, Emily was
hurrying home, as usual, when she was suddenly aware of the fact that many of
her neighbors were gathered at the door of the bar, which was very strange.
Why was that happening? Why
didn’t people go by? She didn’t pay much attention to it, because she wanted to
get together with Rose before returning to school that afternoon. But still,
she had the feeling that all those people had something to do with her.
And she wasn’t too wrong…
*****
An hour before the kids left
school, Sam, the owner of the bar near where Rose had arrived in the last days
of May, was cleaning the tables. He wasn’t expecting anyone for another hour,
because people usually worked until four or five in the afternoon and didn’t take
time off to have lunch in the bar.
Suddenly, Sam heard the bell he
had over the door and realized that someone had entered.
Who could it be? Sam asked himself. Maybe it is Mrs.
Danes, who comes to have lunch. He turned around, but he didn’t see Mrs.
Danes.
Instead, he saw a tall young man.
He was about twenty years old; Sam knew that because he had almost seen him
being born. He remembered clearly when this young man’s mother went into labor
in the square. But he could also remember his wife coming and saying that he
was dead.
"Sam! How’ve you been?"
the young man asked.
Sam didn’t say a word.
"What’s the matter with you?
It looks like you have seen a ghost!" he insisted.
"I think I have," he
replied. "I think I’m seeing Jack Dawson, who died four months ago on the
Titanic."
"What? How did you know I
was on the Titanic?"
"So, it is you? Jack?"
"It is me. I survived the
fire, unlike my family, and I went to New York…"
"What? Oh…you think your
family died? No, Jack. No. They weren’t at home that day…"
"What?" It was Jack’s
turn to be shocked. "So…Mom is alive? Mom, Dad…? Emily! Emily is
fine?"
"Yes. They are all right.
Your wife was also surprised when she heard that they were fine…"
"Wife?" he asked.
"What wife?"
"Your wife…about three
months ago, she came here saying that you two met on the Titanic and that you
had gotten married…don’t you remember?"
"Was her name Rose?" he
asked.
"Yes! Red-haired, about
sixteen or seventeen years old."
Jack became very pale. His family
was alive. Rose was in Chippewa Falls…it was almost too good to be true.
"Where are they? Rose? My
parents?"
"They are still here in
Chippewa Falls. They live…oh, wait. There’s your sister. Why don’t you follow
her?"
Without thinking about it twice, Jack
hurried outside the bar without paying attention to the people who were looking
through its windows.
Emily was still thinking about
the people at the bar door when she heard someone calling her name. She was
about to turn around, but she recognized the voice. It was her brother’s.
Emily, keep walking. You are
imagining things. Jack’s dead. Remember that, she thought to herself, and kept walking.
"Emily!" Jack tried
again. Why was she walking away?
He’s not real…
"Emily! Emmy! Em…" Jack
tried all the ways that he could come up with, but the girl didn’t pay
attention to him. Finally, he decided to use a name she hated. "Emily
Janice Dawson! Are you going to turn around?"
At that point, Emily had to give
up. She hated the name Janice, and she used to hate it when her brother called
her that.
She turned around and, without
paying attention to the fact that the man standing in front of her was supposed
to be dead, started to yell at him.
"How many times do I have to
tell you that I don’t like being called that?"
Jack didn’t say a thing. He just
smiled at his sister and counted to five under his breath.
One…Emily looked angrily at him. Two…her
eyes began to open more than usual. Three…she began to point everywhere.
Four…she opened and closed her mouth many times. Five…she was
finally able to express herself with words.
"Oh, my God! Jack!" She
ran the few steps that separated them and hugged her brother. "I knew you
were okay! I knew it! I knew it! Oh, I’m gonna kill that stupid Rose!"
"What? Why?"
"She made me think that you
were dead, Jack. Everybody wanted me to think that. When our house burned
down…I always knew you were alive, but then this Rose…I was so stupid!"
"No, you weren’t. Rose
thought I was dead. I thought she was dead, too. And I thought you were dead.
My God. I should have checked before leaving…"
"Well, you are right about
that one. Why didn’t you tell anybody that you survived? It would have saved us
a lot of pain…"
"And why didn’t you tell me
that you left?"
"We left you a note in the
kitchen."
Brother and sister smiled at the
irony, but nothing mattered now. They were a family again! After five years…
"We have to tell Mom and
Dad! They will be so happy!"
"Wait! Is Rose still
here?"
"Rose? Yes, she’s living
with us. She didn’t want to, but Mother insisted."
"Great! Now, let’s go."
*****
Katherine was preparing lunch
when she heard the door being opened.
"Mom? Dad? Rose? Anybody?
Where is everybody?" Emily’s voice asked.
"Em? I’m in the
kitchen," she answered.
"Mom! You won’t believe
this! I was right! I knew it. Where’s Rose? I’ll kick her!"
Without understanding what her
daughter meant, Katherine went to the parlor to see what was going on.
"Emily, what…?" She
couldn’t complete the sentence. What she saw shocked her too much to speak.
"Hi, Mom," Jack said.
Katherine’s reaction was similar
to her daughter’s. At the beginning, she was unable to say a word, but finally
she managed to call her husband, who was ill, so he had stayed the morning at
home.
"Henry! Could you come to
the parlor for a moment?"
Henry appeared a moment later,
and also stared at his son.
"Honey…do you see what I’m
seeing?" his wife asked.
"I…it’s hard to say, but I
think…I think…that I am. But, on the other hand, I believe I’m seeing a ghost."
"I’m not a ghost! I didn’t
die in that fire, and I didn’t die on the Titanic."
"So, what happened to you?
Rose came here three months ago and told us that you were dead. We believed
her, of course, but now it turns out that she was lying!"
"She wasn’t lying. Let me
explain. When I realized that the ship was sinking, I decided that I had to
save Rose, no matter what. I saw a lifeboat and told her to get into it. She
refused, but eventually she gave up. That way, I was completely sure she would
arrive safely on another ship."
"And what about you?"
Emily asked.
"I…I knew I couldn’t get
into another boat, because they were only allowing women and children. I ran to
the back of the ship so I could stay out of the water as long as possible. It
worked. When the ship sank completely, I swam until I reached a piece of wood
and climbed on it. After what seemed like hours, a boat picked me up and took
me to the Carpathia."
"That was the same ship Rose
was on. Why couldn’t you find each other?"
"That, Dad, is what I don’t
understand. I looked all over for her, checked all the lists I found, but she
wasn’t anywhere. So, I supposed that she had jumped out of the boat or
something like that."
Katherine pretended to fix her
son’s shirt and whispered in his ear, so that Emily wouldn’t hear it, "She
said her name was Dawson."
Jack smiled. He had been afraid
that Rose would have forgotten him, but now it seemed that he had been wrong.
"And what did you do after
the Carpathia docked?" Henry asked.
"You know…I got odd jobs to
pay for somewhere to sleep. After a couple of months, I realized that
everything in New York City reminded me of her, so I decided to come back here
and then head west or something like that. I was never expecting that I would
find her here or that I would find you. Emily told me that you weren’t home at
the time the fire started."
"No, fortunately, we
weren’t. Oh, my God. I can’t believe you are here again!" Katherine
exclaimed.
For a couple of minutes, the
Dawsons forgot about everything. After five long years, they were together
again…then, Henry realized something.
"Rose! She doesn’t know you
are all right. Where is she, Kate?"
"She went to that hill you
used to draw on. She goes there every morning. Em…why don’t you go and tell her
that lunch is ready?"
"No! I’ll go," Jack
said.
"You are right. Don’t take
too long!"
Jack left his house and hurried
to the hill. He was so happy that Rose and his family were all right. This
should be the happiest day of his entire life.
*****
Rose was sitting under a tree, as
usual. She guessed that Jack sat there because the view was awe-inspiring.
Jack…she had learned a lot about
him during the past three months, but now she felt that it was time to move on.
Not to forget Jack--for God’s sake, no. She felt it was time to live the life
she and Jack had planned. Perhaps she could go to Santa Monica, or somewhere
like that. Head out for the horizon, like Jack had said.
She smiled. She was finally going
to have a life of her own. No more corsets or things like that. She was free.
Well…free. She didn’t want to be
that free. She wanted Jack to rule her life, to tell her the best things to do
and the best places to go. She wanted him to rule her, but not push her like
Cal had done. It didn’t matter now, because Jack was dead and he couldn’t join
her physically in her life.
Suddenly, Rose detected someone
coming up from behind her. She thought it was either Emily or Katherine, coming
to tell her that lunch was ready. She closed her eyes, and felt as if Jack was
with her. She couldn’t help but smile at that feeling.
She expected to hear a voice
calling her, but she didn’t. She waited another minute, but still no one called
her. She decided that the best thing was to turn around and tell them that she
was going.
She stood up, turned around, and
began a sentence.
"All right…I’m…" She
froze. Instead of Katherine or Emily, she saw Jack standing in front of her,
his back against a tree. "Am…am I dead?" she asked shyly.
Jack smiled. "Dead? God, no.
You are fine, and so am I."
"So…this isn’t a
dream?" She still didn’t believe the truth.
"It can’t be. I have had the
same dream for four months now, but this seems more real than the rest."
Rose didn’t reply. Jack, alive,
in front of her…it was like a miracle. Unexpectedly, she began to cry, and Jack
hurried next to her.
"Rose, please don’t cry. I’m
here, Rose. I won’t go again, I promise," he said as he hugged her.
Rose felt so safe…she had also
been dreaming of this moment for months, but never had she imagined that it
would come true.
"Why…why did you push me
into a boat, Jack? I wanted to stay with you."
"I…I didn’t want something
to happen to you, Rose. I thought it would be best."
Rose stopped crying and looked
into Jack’s eyes.
"Don’t you ever dare to
leave me again, Jack. Never," she said, very seriously.
"I won’t. We’ll stay
together forever now. I promise you. Do you trust me?" he answered with a
smile.
She smiled back. She trusted him
from the bottom of her heart.
"I do." They kissed.
"Did you see your family already?"
"Yes, I did. They already
know that I’m fine."
"Emily hates me, doesn’t
she?"
"No, I don’t think so. She’s
mad at you, but I don’t think she hates you."
"She always thought you were
alive. I should have believed her!"
"It doesn’t matter
now." He kissed her again. "Now, let’s go. Mom will be mad with us if
we don’t get there before lunch burns."
They laughed and headed to the
house.
"So…everybody tells me that
my beautiful wife came here about three months ago. Have you seen her?"
"I…don’t be angry at me.
It’s just…"
"Angry? Why should I be
angry? I’m flattered."
"Really?"
"Really."
For a while, they remained in
silence, too happy to express their feelings. Jack broke the silence.
"You know, a month ago, I
had no one in the world to turn to. Now, I have a real family. I have a mother,
a father, a sister, and, most importantly, a wife! It’s like a dream come
true." He stopped, and then added, "I understand that you had to say
you were my wife, because you thought I was dead. We don’t have to be a couple
if you don’t want to be…"
"What? Jack Thomas Dawson,
are you leaving me? Again?" she asked, only half-serious.
He smiled once again. "I
guess that’s a no. And how did you know my middle name was Thomas?"
"Emily told me."
"Her complete name is Emily
Janice. Did she tell you that?"
They laughed again. The past four
months had disappeared from their memories. They were together.
Before entering his house, and
without being seen, Jack look at the sky and silently thanked God for the
miracle he had just experienced.
The End.