Note: To read The Wishing Map from the beginning, click here.
The Wishing Map
Epilogue: The Unknown (Continued)
Previously: Rested but wary of what was to come, Gina, Zack, and their friend B’frona turned to face the future. This is the final episode of The Wishing Map.
⇔ ⇔ ⇔
“I will make it better! I swear by Uol!” Zack shouted out the window, across the River Rennou, over the tops of the mighty irontrees.
As if in response, rain began to fall, anointing him. His memory snapped back to a moment after their first return from Ismara. He’d climbed out his bedroom window to his thinking place… A late summer storm had begun to pummel his face. And then the impossible had happened: a two mile-long swath of subatomic particles ripped open the cerulean sky, traveling 60,000 miles per hour and blazing at 50,000 degrees like a slice of the sun. It was accompanied by a supersonic shock that rattled the heavens! It happened again and again, and yet it was only one of sixteen million electrical storms in the world that year, a typical year for… “Dunder and lyning!” His face beamed and his hair turned to wet thatch as his eyes blinked away the rain. Then he sat down on the wet shingles and said, “Good old roof. Good old house. Good old Middleton.”
“Does it help with the pain?”
“Huh?” Zack turned to find Gina standing beside him at the window.
“The rain. I don’t know why getting rained on would help, but anything’s worth a try. I hurt all over.”
“Yeah.”
She leaned into him. He winced. “There’s something I’m supposed to tell you.”
“?”
She paused to make sure she had it right: “‘The purpose of your life didn’t begin with you, and it won’t end with you.’”
Zack could hear Rhema speaking the words. He smiled, not because he knew what it meant, but because he trusted her.
Gina pulled the Revealer out of her pocket. “So, now we have to take this little bugger to Zshinia. Do you think we’ll ever get home?”
“I hope so.”
“Me too, because there’s magic in our world too.”
“I know.”
“But before we do, we might have to fight more monsters.”
“Well, ‘it’s always best to face monsters in the company of others.’”
“You just figure that out?” Zack grinned crookedly.
B’frona emerged from the narrow stairway and joined them at the window. He watched the downpour for a while. “The cloud shepherds are pushing out the last of the rain. Tomorrow they will begin making snow.”
“When do we leave for Zshinia?” asked Gina.
“Tomorrow.” He put one hand on Zack’s shoulder and silently took Gina’s with his other, as the three stood staring out at the cloud-shadowed outlines of the distant mountains.
⇔ ⇔⇔
Thoughts: It is always best to face monsters in the company of others.
In fabula nunquam desinens.
Mitch Teemley 
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At times I thought the telling to be unnecessarily grotesque,
but then I realized evil is not pretty, nor is it sensitive. To have
told the story any other way would have diminished its effectiveness.
I began to read the tale for entertainment, then thought to learn more
about the author by reading on and ended by learning more about
myself. What an immense undertaking this project must have been, and
what an immensely successful one. A book length parable with lessons
to teach, and teach it does.
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Sarah,
I’m so honored you took the time to read all the way through. Yes, I chose to be graphic in order to show evil, including that which lives in us, for what it is. Few have noticed the allegorical and psychological/coming-of-age elements in the story to the extent you have (a sort of Narnia meets Harry Potter approach). I appreciate your keen mind and sensitive soul. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you this past year. The Wishing Map is the first of four planned books, but I haven’t found the time to write the others yet.
Blessings till it hurts,
Mitch
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I’ll be looking for those other books!!
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I finished reading this, from Episode 127. The tale of these brave children will no doubt continue and the purpose of their lives will be fulfilled, long after their departure from that world- as it will for each of us, beyond this world.
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Indeed. Well observed.
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Reblogged this on Mitch Teemley and commented:
“It is always best to face monsters in the company of others.” This is the final episode of The Wishing Map. Blessings till it hurts, Mitch
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Fantastic! It left me wanting more. What an inspiration you are!
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Aw, thank you! (Is it Heather, or is that just part of your blog site title?)
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It is Heather. I really loved it – totally binged read until it was done 🙂
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I’m honored, Heather.
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This early p.m., I finished my cover to cover of The Wishing Map.
Thanks, Mitch, for the trip through your wonderland imagination.
Where do I even begin my “review”? Duh, Tom, at the beginning.
Your map’s magic carpet ride entry to settings which blend conventional and surreal elements; alien architecture, believable yet extraordinary characters; even an invented dialect / tongue and cuisine; vivid portrayals of description defying creatures / monsters; an intriguing, dramatic roller coaster ride thru plots and subplots; the “don’t touch that dial” conclusion; and last but not least, your steady undercurrent of palpable parable style life-enriching counsel.
Wow, Mitch! Where does all of that even come from?
No, I don’t actually expect you to answer that.
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I can’t tell you how delighted I am, Tom, that you got all of that out of it, including the Narnia-esque symbolism (which a lot of people missed). Blessings, my friend.
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Obviously, TWM was a pleasure for you to write and a pleasure for me to read. What a win-win that is! Ditto those blessings to you, too, my friend (and very first WP follower).
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