Michael Seidlinger - Falter Kingdom

I will say it. “H.”

And she will fill in the missing letters.

It’s like the letters were always there.

Just waiting for her to say them.

There’s a field, not long from now. It might be flush with green grass, marked with flowers and other vegetation; it could be barren, gutted of any green. It’s not important where or what this is, only that this is where we’ve ended up.

There is a car. It could be yours. The sky is about to burn bright, the bright yellow sun of a brand-new day.

Near dawn, you’re sitting on the hood of that car.

This is the future. Your future. You are here.

This is the ending, but because Blaire’s doesn’t end, neither does yours.

You will close this book. You will finish the story, filling in the rest with what you see out there, in the distance. Look. What do you see?

You’ll look out into the distance, enjoying the dawn of a new day.

You’ll live that day, driving the car on to the next. There’s enough there to fill another book. But not this one. This is not part of Hunter’s story. It is not entirely Blaire’s to own. It is yours, and this is just something for you, a message from them to you. Listen to your voice, what does it tell you?

The demons exist. If they don’t find you, you create your own.

Fear is there. It never fades.

But know that you never have to be alone.

Never doubt yourself, just because everyone else doesn’t understand.

There’s an entire kingdom out there. Hold on to that image.

Be strong. Be vigilant. Just because you can’t quite see into the distance, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Know who your real friends are.

We’re all the same, eventually.

Michael J. Seidlingeris the author of a number of novels including The Fun We’ve Had and The Strangest. He serves as director of publicity at Dzanc Books, book reviews editor at Electric Literature, and publisher in chief of Civil Coping Mechanisms, an indie press specializing in innovative fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he never sleeps and is forever searching for the next best cup of coffee. You can find him online at michaeljseidlinger.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter (@mjseidlinger). CREDIT: PHOTO BY MELISSA LIRAG