Cameras point at the center of the memorial. I’ll never get used to the cameras. Enid nudges me, then kisses my cheek. Shaking, I pull away and step in front of the cameras.
Miller, Jayme, Sho, Lily, Doc, and Mom all linger at the front of the crowd. Having them present gives me courage.
Calming my anxious nerves, I take a deep breath, face the cameras, and recall the words I’ve been struggling with for months.
“A dear friend once told me that time is not linear. There is no beginning, no end, and our lives are a closed loop, connecting us to any point in time. I don’t believe this means we don’t die, or that we don’t feel the loss. The memory of those we’ve lost always lives on, burning eternally inside of us. We can close our eyes and go back to any moment along that loop to revisit those memories and feel close to each other once more.
“Tribute Park represents that loop, not just to us, but for those who follow us. It serves as a reminder of what happens when we forget our humanity. Let the memory of what happened here burn eternal.”
I step forward and my friends join me. Together, we light the eternal torch. As silence falls over Tribute Park, Enid slides her arm around my waist. I do the same and pull her closer to me.
We have lost so much, but we haven’t lost each other.
I still find it hard to accept that we are all that remains of humanity. Maybe someday we can expand far enough to discover other pockets of people surviving.
And then the world can truly rebuild.
Acknowledgements
I always knew that something about Ugene was special, but I didn’t fully understand just what made him unique until I started writing this. It broke my heart to write the final words of this book. I grew so attached to him and all his friends.
Ugene’s story began with a “what if” game between my husband, my stepson, and myself. What if there was a boy named Eugene who lived in a world where everyone has a superpower except for him, and the only job he could get was delivering flowers on a bicycle? The actual books have strayed quite a bit from that original “what if,” but the ending feels completely appropriate for Ugene’s journey.
I owe a huge thanks to my fellow writers of SPWG. Your candid advice helped me shape this into a much better novel. Your willingness to push through this book at a nearly neck break pace to help me publish it on schedule.
To my friends Amanda, Julia, and Melinda, your encouragement and enthusiasm for this project didn’t go unnoticed. Special thanks to Amanda, who understood when I had to sacrifice an afternoon or evening out to meet deadlines. A writer cannot succeed without support.
Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a tribe to create a book. I would be lost without my fantastic tribe and the communities of writers who have already walked in my shoes.
Once again, thanks to my editor, Maddy. Your eagerness and guidance gave me the courage to move forward with this project.
Thanks to all of you.
And of course, I am extremely grateful to my loyal readers. Everyone continues to tell me not to include you in my acknowledgements, that you wouldn’t care or see it as sincere, but who cares what everyone else says, right? Rebel with me! Show them they are wrong, and that you are a critical component in this book’s success as much as anyone else. Leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, or your blog. Hell, you can even send me an email directly. I LOVE hearing from my readers!
About the Author
STARR Z. DAVIES,
a Midwesterner at heart, resides in Wisconsin with her husband and kids. She currently divides her time between writing and taking care of her family. ORDINARY is her debut novel, soon to be followed by the sequel, UNIQUE.
Visit her online at www.starrzdavies.com
and www.facebook.com/szdavies
or follow her on Twitter @SZDavies.
Sign up for Starr’s newsletter to find out when her new series, Fractured Empire: A Courtly Mongolian Historical Fiction, becomes available! Just visit her website.
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