52.

Down the town, in the largest of the town public houses a band will be playing in the evening free of charge. Terrence and his parents find this out on a quick after dinner walk about of the coastal town. Thankfully the whiskey had not been completely drunk at dinner time, so the town walk does not come with any particular danger.

Remembering what Cecil had said to him about the qualities of the fresh sea air, Terrence is eager to get his parents, especially his mum, to stand where he stood lost to the great wide open sight of the sea. He does get to see her stand there and become as much lost to view of the waters as he had been and to him this is such a great sight to see. She doesn't go anywhere too near to those waters as Terrence had on one occasion and he is sure that she never will go that far.

The night still has yet to come, well that could become something great too.

It will be a night to enjoy for the most part, a kind of last supper before Terrence walks the walk that only he can walk. Mum worries especially when the current walk comes to the grounds across from the entrance to the public park. Terrence hugs his mother and ensures her that he is not doing anything against his will. And sure, they will see each other again. This is not an end; it is beginning to something else.

The evening's music is promised to be easy on the ear, not overly loud and not centered on a younger crowd. It will be two men in their early thirties who both will be singing and playing acoustic guitars, best friends passing themselves off as brothers with a band name of The Park Brothers, Jeremy, and Kenneth 'Park'.

Among the covers of hits spanning decades, they also play a couple of songs in their set that they co-wrote. With there being no memory of any adventure ever occurring in the town park it could be thought odd the titles they chose to use, and it could be thought odd that their co-written songs were inspired by idea of spending a lengthy amount of time in a park like space.

One particular lyric also happens to center round a moment of being chased by a frightening chainsaw wielding force. Looking out at those in attendance there is a slight recognition and the brother like best friends have no idea as to why one man in particular should appear to be so familiar to them.

During this night, an event was occurring, raffle tickets were being sold all evening long to raise money for a particular charity, a charity created in the name of one person in particular. On the afternoon of her fiftieth birthday, a certain Karen Blake, formerly Karen O'Neill thought and acted quickly. A six-year-old boy ventured out onto the main street road when a delivery van so happened to be backing up.

The boy's movement was so sudden that the van driver had absolutely no chance of seeing this boy and stopping the van in time to prevent hitting him. Karen did indeed react quickly, her movements saved the boy, unfortunately it would come at her own expense. Karen had been hit by the delivery van.

She passed away in hospital three days later with her partner turned husband at her side. Hearing all this came as a blow. For Terrence it hurt. The thought that if Karen had not managed to leave the park, she would not have been able to save the boy did little to ease the pain coming his way.

A charity had indeed been set up in her name and was founded by Dale Blake with all funds raised going to children's charities. Yeah, plenty of good was and is coming out of the heroic act but still, it came at the price of Karen's life.

It is difficult to enjoy a potential last night out with this information coming his way through the music sounded well. The boys, now men sounded great, the raffle went well and both of Terrence's parents look more than well as they enjoy their night out.

Pride, Terrence can go on with pride. Sure, hasn't he accomplished something? He has returned the lost back to the outside world and now the world is a much better place for it. He is not giving anything up or making any kind of sacrifice. If anything, he can see the future. He sees a vision and he does not need to be covered with small black spiders to see it.

In the park, when he returns, he will, along with some help, build himself a new home. People will come to him; they will visit him for all sorts of reason. Not just people with whom he knows but strangers will come too. A lot of the time, they will not even realize what they are doing, and, in some cases, they won't even remember such a visit ever happening.

Visitors will come, not being sure of what it is they seek, and Terrence will aid these visitors in whatever way they need aid and though memories may not always be retained the visitor experiences will go on and do good in their own right. This is the future Terrence is destined to have; this is the future he has always been destined to have. In aiding the lost to once again be found, it is he who has been aided, fulfilled. In essence he will be found, he has been found.

The lost in a way showed him the way and, in that place, the past, the present and the future all come together. So, it may not be all so difficult to believe that this small town, this forest like public park is the center of the universe. It definitely is the center of the universe that Terrence lives in.

53.

Terrence wakes on his back in his bed to the sound of seagulls cackling outside his window. His first thought is that there must be a storm out at sea for isn't this why seagulls come inland? If another storm is on the way, then this house is well set up to deal with that. He gets up to go take a shower and when he opens his bedroom door, he is hit by an array of pleasant smells obvious wafting their way up to him from the kitchen.

It is clear that mum is up and clear that she is preparing one heck of a breakfast. A final meal before the sacrifice, it is less a sacrifice and more a calling, a calling that Terrence has waited his entire life for. He will take that shower and enjoy the pleasant warm water washing over his body, cleansing his soul, for it is soon will be time for his last meal, a morning time last supper before fully accepting his call.

Breakfast is had in a pleasant kind of silence. It is as much a pleasant moment as it is a sad one. Taking a sip of tea Terrence turns to his father and smiles.

'What, no whiskey?'

'Bit early for that' dad says growing a smile of his own.

Dad then reveals the rest of the remaining whiskey from the bottle he had brought the day before. Terrence is gonna get to take that whiskey with him. It may not get to last very long once the cross over onto that other world comes, so Terrence thinks. He accepts this gift freely.

'You don't have to do this' says mum.

'I do, my whole existence has been geared for this', mum moves in for a hug. 'I will be fine mum. You guys of course can look after this place if you wish and make it your own.'

'Yeah son' speaks dad. 'We will be back and forth. There is no chance that we will be abandoning our only son.'

'Hey' mum says feeling a compulsion to ask something she feels to be somewhat important. 'How likely is it that we will get to become grandparents?'

'Ah I don't know about that mum; not very likely I would imagine.'

Not likely at all, thinking of it, however, and with there being a lack of time within where it is he will be going back to, then maybe grandchildren do exist on some level, perhaps in a way even readymade. Still, it is not very likely, is it? No one, not even Terrence can say for sure what is to come.

Time to go, of course Terrence could take whatever he wants, whatever he owns with him. Thing is that if he were to bring belongings, then where could he store those belongings? If he were to find a hiding spot, then could it be guaranteed that his belongings will still be where he puts then when he would go back for them after having placed them in any such hiding spot he could choose? The older version of himself was building a cabin, so perhaps he can directly use that, even with the fact he will still have to build it at some point. The logistics of time in a place where it is not linear, really is something.

He may be away from and outside of the place he had been, and will return to it, though the connection remained with him, it had been with him long before he ever even came to town. So, any questions he may have would be answered directly in an indirect way. He is free to assume or presume from what he already knows. He would have a feel or a sense to what it is he needed to know so from all he could know leads to the thoughts that whatever he brings with him would be safe as safe can be.

The park itself or the life force within it will, as Terrence knows already, will provide, and cater to his needs to a degree. It will depend on him, and he can depend of it in return. So, once ready, off he does go. Dad was coming so far as to the park to 'aid Terrence with his belongings' as he says. Mum was coming as far as the park too. You would be safer swimming with sharks than you would be trying to stop her from coming.

Out of the estate they all go together, down the hill they go together, and across the car park they go together, where at such point mum begins to get emotional. In truth she had been emotional for a while prior to this moment and had been trying not to show it until she could no longer hold it back.

'Mum, you know there is nothing to worry about' Terrence says embracing his mother. 'You guys are free to visit, you know this.'

'Yeah, I do but still.'

When mum eventually lets go, Terrence moves and puts a hand out towards dad. The two smile as dad grabs the hand and pulls Terrence in for a hug. No words are needed but are said anyway and mum comes in for another hug. The 'I love you guys' the 'don't worry's' are spoken and spoken again then Terrence turns and enters.

Nothing he has ever done before has been this simple while also being so difficult. Taking a few steps beyond the park entrance is simple, doing this with his parents standing emotionally behind him is difficult and not getting to discuss all he has been through with Mary Grogan is and was also difficult. What they had ever so briefly is something they can't ever have again or expand upon.

If only Terrence could change that but then hey, the park is supposed to cater to his needs, right? Nah, maybe not, definitely not. If this could be one of his questions then an answer is not coming as directly as anything else he has, in his way, asked. However, this moment of return is not the moment to consider options and that is if there are any to consider.

For having taken those few steps into the town park, he can see them, he sees them all as they were and not what they had gone on to become and he sees them all standing side by side. Not hos parents but those he previously had encountered. He sees Karen O'Neill, the young lady jogger who entered the park in 1983 and not the lady turned local heroine at fifty and suffering the consequences.

Collie, the German Sheppard, is at Karen's side and upon seeing Terrence he, Collie that is, barks once as in offering up an 'hello' or 'welcome back'. Next to Karen stands two friends ... Jeremy Wright and Kenneth Torrance, their fourteen-year-old selves and not their thirty something 'Park Brothers' alternates.

On the other side of the boys stands Jason Ryan with his chainsaw in tow, switched off of course. Terrence is looking forward to the adventures he and Jason will have together. When he had been on the outside, Terrence thought about looking Jason up though in 2017 Jason had yet to lose himself in this place, so he saw that there was no reason to tempt fate, was there?

To Jason's side, there stands a seven-year-old boy who holds onto his ball as if it is the most important thing in the world, yeah Todd can't be losing his ball can he? It is after all what got him in here.

And to add to this, standing next to Todd is Cecil Lynch in all his sixty-four-year-old glory and not the eighty-four-year-old that Terrence met as he had when he had taken a moment to look out at the sea.

All these people, dog included, are what had been left behind. They are echoes, shadows of something else, time being all that it is and all, they all are both here and not here. They have the memories of what they went through as a group, and they know that they also go on to see daylight on the outside and they are completely content to be in the here and the now. Terrence doesn't get an immediate opportunity to re-greet this group for the group soon open up to reveal something behind them.

No, it can't be, but it is. Has the unanswered question just been answered? From where Terrence stands the answer to the question of the unanswered question would appear to be a yes. What Terrence sees first are three lit candles. Two of which are smaller than the other. He is sure that if these candles are scented, they are scented vanilla, strawberry, and toffee.

A few feet beyond these candles are three more lit candles and further on there are three more. What is it he had been told once before? Follow the candles? Follow them he does with his eyes until he sees what they lead him to.

Standing a few feet beyond the third set of candles just so happens to be Mary Grogan, the Mary Grogan Terrence had got to meet when he first arrived to town, and not the alternative he met along with a grown up Todd Grogan. How is this possible? The hell if he knows.

This move of his, the move to permanently live within a very odd forest like town park may just be the best move he has ever made or will ever make. Yeah, this place is very odd, it is very strange, whatever it may be, it is most definitely very, very special. One thing Terrence can be sure of is that there is nowhere else in the world quite like this place.

***

So, there it is, an oddness that has become my life. Within a place that is surly alive itself is where I will see out my days. Huh, the thought has just come to me now, when my days come to an end who will know? Will my story ever be known? Will this place take care of my needs when an end does come? Will it itself ever have an end? Questions best not worrying over, this is how things are and I can safely say I am content with that.

Have all my efforts been worthwhile? I have to answer that with a ... yes.

THE END.