I knew she would try to end it there. She says that since I had the first chapter, she gets the last and so she gets to end it wherever she wants. But somebody’s gotta be the Whole Story Police here, and the hug on the porch wasn’t the end.
In the first place, the bear hug didn’t last forever. It lasted about five minutes—which, I admit, is pretty darn long for a hug. Even the hug when Poppy left next day wasn’t as long. Lily was mad and thumping his chest one minute, bawling into his arms the next. Poppy said don’t worry, it wouldn’t be another ten years before he showed up again. I’m not sure we believed him.
Before Dad drove us all to the airport, Poppy came into our room and got all whispery. “Listen,” he said, “I have a suggestion for you two. Okay?” We said okay. “So here’s what I’d like you to do. I’d like you to write down your story. The story of you two. Your goombla. Like you told me yesterday. I wish I had done it when I was your age. I can hardly remember those days now. I know it’s hard to put into words, like you said, but I want you to at least try to write your story down before you become an old poop like me who can’t remember anything.” Then he pulled two notebooks from the bag he was holding. He gave each of us a pen. “Okay?”
“Okay,” we said together.
So we took Poppy to the airport and hugged some more and waved good-bye. We wouldn’t leave the terminal until we saw his plane take off and disappear into the clouds.
That night after dinner we started writing in our notebooks. And today, just this second, we finished our book. And that’s what you just read.
Okay, say it now….