THE AFTERMATH
Chapter Eleven
April 14, 1919
From the Diary of Rose Dawson
That night I told Charles the
complete truth. He listened, held me tight, and promised me to never let go.
For a while his words, I thought, were identical to Jack’s only seven years
ago. But then I realized that Charles loved me more truly than Jack ever had. I
knew that night that I had to lay Jack to rest in my heart. I buried him that
night and sometimes, I thought of him.
I never forgot his face, his
voice, or his laugh. When I buried Jack, I burned the newspaper clipping.
Strangely, as if Jack wanted to live on in my memory only, as if he had caused
it, neither of those records--of his arrest and of his death--were ever found.
He did live on solely in my memory. Cal died in the Great War only last year,
and my mother passed on three years ago. Only seven years ago, Jack was alive.
Seven years ago, he was at the prime of his life. It’s amazing how time flies.
Today Charles and I have one
child, a daughter. Rebecca is two years old. Maybe Charles and I will have more
children, and maybe we won’t. But I will always have Jack’s memory, and the
Heart of the Ocean.
The End.