It would probably be better if I didn’t explain this page. The people who get it would get it and the ones who don’t wouldn’t and that would be fine. A better artist might be able to convey things more clearly, but I am not who I am not. We got a long look at Thomas’s memories of Patty, but nothing from her side, so I decided in the pause after Thomas’s they both see past versions of each other in some idealized nowhere in the before times. For just a moment they’re the same dumb kids just trying to figure out this thing we call life. They both experienced true loss in the times between and now the long branching paths have intersected again. In some other version of this work these two could have a romance that destroys friendships and changes lives. I could probably write it, but I would be unhappy the entire time. It would probably be more popular too, because more people love strife than enjoy peace. I just don’t think I’m capable of being that creator. If I still had the rage burning inside me that I did when I was younger maybe I could have been, but I didn’t have the practice, and now I don’t have the inclination.

Anyway, I better leave it there for now. I hope you have a nice week. I’ll be back on Wednesday with another page. If you would like to support my work, which I very much need, please use any of the links above. Until next time, wimmy wham wham wozzle.

2 Comments

I’ll be honest, I much prefer the non-ragy, more peaceful and mindful version of this story we’ve been getting here. I wouldn’t care for an idealized saccharine narrative, but I also don’t relish or wish for destructive conflict when it comes to my fiction. To have some level of attrition or baggage to deal with between characters is one thing, but the destructive, rage-filled or self-sabotaging stuff really isn’t my cup of tea. There’s enough strife to go around in the real world, and this is as realistic a scenario as it gets too. I for one think these last pages have been up there among your best writing, Jackie.

This almost reminds me of a conversation I had with my youngest niece recently. I asked her how tired she was of others asking if she was excited to go back to school, she told me she wished more adults could remember being kids. We all have our memories, but they are distorted by our current point of view. These two, for a moment, remembered themselves as they used to be, and I hope they are better for it.

3036 I Wish That I Knew What I Know Now.

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