Somebody is gonna get hurt real bad...

Chapter 19 :- The Last Day...

"In the end we are alone. And there is nothing but the cold dark wasteland of eternity"

Lestat de Lioncourt

Sit back, relax and let the tension fade away

Your busy life hit a full stop and it's time for your retirement days

But with juggling between past and present

Would you ever be able to stay noscient?

Irisvile is a small peaceful town where lifetimes of people have passed in tranquility. Individuals come here in search of solace and find it by the enchanting Relitain forest, by the alluring Tiger-Lily riverside. Once upon a time there existed a killer, but as the seasons have changed he has been reduced to merely a bad memory. The non-caring, stagnated lives of the people are back, as viability is becoming normal once again. Juggling between the past and present the man has remembered a vile penumbra which he seemed to have forgotten, a vague feeling for a chapter that is yet to begin, an ambiguous predicament of adversities yet to be faced, but right now everything seems fine, everything seems well... An existence has vanished, as a man retired. Do you know what comes after the end?

One month later...

It was the last day of duty for Sheriff Jackson, and as expected Officer Ted was appointed as his successor. Well, he deserved it I guess... After what he did for all those girls! Finally, he would be getting the credit he was entitled to! Sheriff Jackson felt a strong urge to say 'I told you so...' but had no one in front of whom he could childishly gloat. The void of a lost friend was still there. Well, it was sort of a happy ending, at least for someone.

The box from the Delicia Bakery, placed on his table was a reminder that nothing had changed, the date on the calendar however told a different story. It seems like yesterday when I was eating the lemon ginger tart brought by Officer Walter, railing back on the chair, and wondering how to catch that killer, and today... Zingiest desert through eternity! All the memories were flashing before his eyes, in bits and pieces and every fragment was a medal, a scar. Sheriff with a heavy heart was glancing around his cabin... This is how it ends.

He was wrapping up all his stuff and placing it in the boxes. The messy tardy cabin was packed with so many remembrances, and each one of them had an echo of its own, leaving behind a subtle mark, every single one of those mementos had a separate place in that box. It's amusing how a lifetime of a person can be wrapped up in a few cartons! Philosophical fleeting thoughts were engulfing Sheriff as he tossed his adored paperweight with a tight stomach in one the boxes.

"Can I keep this diary with me, Officer?" Sheriff Peter Jackson had asked Officer Ted. He knew that the diary was to be submitted as evidence, but with the case closed, it would forever be trapped in one of those random crates. It would become a worthless piece of trash. Officer George, he deserved better than that... That diary was one of the crucial things which helped solve the mystery of that infamous killer and it doesn't deserve to rot in a discrete corner, among thousands of racks. If it were up to me then it would have secured a place in a museum!

Sheriff Jackson knew that it wasn't the sole reason which was making it difficult for him to let go of the diary. It was a memento of his beloved departed colleague. He wanted something to remember that brave young man. He placed the black colored diary in the box. Sheriff Jacksons' retirement was much more doleful than he had expected and viewing his cabin where he had spent more than half of his lifetime was gut-wrenching. It seemed like he was letting go of his memories, the fragments of his being, and parts of his soul. So much for an apathetic goodbye!