CHAPTER 35: ONE CHOICE
Ed was peacefully lying face down in the middle of a lucious and beautiful field that was overrun with tall,shining blades of orange and yellow grass that glowed brightly in the perpetual evening sunlight,the boy appeared to have all his clothes fixed,his bruises and wounds completely healed,and even his long blinded left eye was back to its normal state,however he was unable to notice it at all since he seemed to be fast asleep on the soft and almost soothing grass. Ed continued to sleep like this for about a few more minutes until he felt his eyes slowly start to open combined with the essence of a nice,calm breeze brushing past him alongside a very soft and nearly soothing feeling underneath him as well as he lifted himself off the ground to see where he was.
"Where am I? It's beautiful." Ed raised an eyebrow and questioned to himself while he looked around at the beautiful scenery before him before he suddenly realized that he could see out of his left eye again as he softly gasped and stated at the realization "I….I can see? What's going on here?" which was followed up by the boy walking around the field in an attempt to find any sort of life or clue as to where he was. However as the boy continued to search and search for any signs of life,he would instead continue to only be met by the sight of more grass as he hung his head and bitterly lamented "Man,I'm not finding anything here. What is this place?" before the voice of a woman suddenly called out from behind in a loving tone of voice "My dear son." to which the hermit immediately perked up and slowly turned around to be greeted by the sight of a middle aged woman with black hair and a white dress looking at him with a reassuring and gentle smile.
Ed was of course confused by the very sight of this mysterious new stranger as he politely wondered with a raised eyebrow "Who...are you miss?" only for the woman to say nothing while she continued to smile at the kid,and after a few more moments of this strange yet oddly comforting display,something inside Ed suddenly snapped after the only possible person who it could have been came into his mind as he softly gasped and asked while tears slowly began to well up in his eyes "M….mom?" to which the lady gently nodded her head. Ed had no idea what was going on at this point,but honestly he didn't even care a single bit as he started crying intensely while he ran towards his mother and gave her a big hug that she slowly joined in on before she comfortingly stated "It's alright,I'm here." to which the boy meekly whimpered admits his own crying "I've wanted to meet you for so long. I always have." which prompted the lady to softly add in agreement while she stroked her son's hair "And I've always wanted to see you all grown up for so long too."
After what seemed like an eternity of Ed happily wailing while he and his mother embraced for the very first time,the boy seemed to have finally put his crying under control as he let go of the woman and happily wondered "One thing I've always wanted to know is…...why did you and dad dump me off at that orphanage? I went through so much there and…..I just had to run away,I couldn't take it anymore and needed to get away from there." to which the woman hung her head a little and shamefully explained "From the very moment you were born,me and your father longed to care for you and raise you to be a kind and caring young boy. But our family was going through a lot of financial and personal hardship at that time and we just couldn't afford to take care of you anymore,so one winter night I mustered up all of my courage and took you to the safest place I could find. Unfortunately I can see that life still hadn't been very kind to you."
"It was awful at times. I lost my eye due to some bully at the orphanage,I was lured out here by some vengeful monster and nearly got killed twice by her." Ed nodded his head and meekly agreed with his mother as he recalled all the hardships he went through in his life before he suddenly stopped his rambling when he realized all the good things he had in his life as he continued with a slightly more bashful face "But then again...if I hadn't been taken to that orphanage,I wouldn't have met Ashlynn or Christine,I wouldn't have run away and saved Herman from that poacher trap in the woods,I sure wouldn't have busted Rebecca out of the orphanage,and I even...wouldn't have met all of my friends. So I guess…..it wasn't that bad after all." to which the woman smiled once more and happily agreed with her son "You are very much right indeed,throughout your life you have gone through things that no child should ever have to endure,but you have also done many heroic deeds that have directly affected your own life as well as those of the people around you. You have no idea how proud that makes me and your father."
It was at this point that even more tears were starting to well up in Ed's eyes as he quickly proceeded to wipe them away before a window suddenly appeared a few feet in front of him out of nowhere to which he perked up and questioned its presence with a raised eyebrow "What is that?" only for the boy's mother to calmly request while she joined her son's side "See for yourself." and once the boy reached the window and looked outside it to see what was going on,he would be left completely bewildered and shocked when he saw that he was looking down on the train tracks in France,where his mangled up and filthy body was lying there while the others were trying to get him to wake up,even Tyrone was trying to apply CPR but to no avail.
"That's….that's me?!" Ed gasped and fearfully exclaimed at the very sight of the others trying to wake him up before the boy's mother kindly explained what was happening down there "That is you indeed Edward,the explosion on the bridge nearly took you out for good,and you are on the very brink of death as we speak,however you can choose to go back to them if you wish,or you can come with me and your father. The choice is yours." to which the boy perked up at the realization that he could go back or stay with his parents,this was gonna be the ultimate choice that would determine whether he would live or die.
Ed thought hard about the two options he had for what felt like an eternity,there were so many perks and benefits he had to consider and there were so many other repercussions alongside them that he had to consider as well,but eventually the boy finally came to a decision as he sighed,looked his mother dead in the eye and bittersweetly stated with a smile "Mom…..I've waited for so many years to see you,and I will never forget the opportunity that I had here,but I think I'd like for me and Rebecca to have the chance to be the parents you and Dad couldn't. Also if you happen to see a girl named Margaux Holt,tell her that Lucy, Holly, Sylvia and the rest of us are all doing just fine down here,and that even know I never got the chance to meet her,that I wish I could've." which was followed by his mother happily smiling in support while the boy gave her one last hug.
Ed's Mother:
Let the stars in the sky remind us of man's compassion.
Let us love till we die and God bless us everyone.
In your heart there's a night as bright as a star in Heaven.
Let it shine through the night and God bless us everyone.
"My dear darling,thrust into the world so young,me,your father and the rest of your family will continue to watch over you for as long as you live. Edward,work hard,spend all the time you can with your friends,and above all,never let your heart grow bitter." Ed's mother happily bid her son farewell as she and the boy finally managed to let go of each other while the latter slowly walked through the window.
Star by star in the sky and kindness by human kindness.
Let us love till we die and God bless us everyone.
God bless us everyone.
After Ed had seemed to take his leave of the golden field,the boy's mother slowly started to glow a heavenly light as she happily whispered to herself "Goodbye my son." before she seemingly vanished away from the field and left it entirely vacant,or at least it would have been if it weren't for a girl suddenly appearing and happily stating after the woman had left "Thank you Ed. I would have liked to meet you too."
Meanwhile back in the real world,the gang had seemingly come to the conclusion that Ed had unfortunately passed away as Tyrone sighed and regretfully closed the boy's eyes,all the kids started to weep at the seams while Charlie Brown, Freida, Peppermint Patty, Franco, Marcie, Franklin, Linus, Eudora, Claudia and Skylar hugged each other admits their own weeping,and Herman started to somberly howl into the sky as did Snoopy, Andy, Olaf, Gracie and Roger. Eventually the gang decided that it was time they headed back to the van as they all hung their heads and slowly began to move away from Ed's motionless state,however Rebecca and Herman on the other hand continued to stay with the boy as the former meekly whimpered while tears poured down her face "Oh Ed…...I can't live without you. You were my world."
Rebecca:
Heal what has been hurt.
Change the fate's design.
Save what has been lost.
Bring back what once was mine.
What once was mine.
It was at this time that Rebecca began to weep once more as she stood up and began to follow the kids back to the van,while Herman sadly licked Ed's cheek one last time before he followed suit,however it was right then and there that the slowly setting sun started to shine on the boy's motionless body while it suddenly began to move ever so slightly,and pretty soon afterwards the hermit's eye slowly began to open and be greeted by the sight of the kids and animals walking away. However Ed didn't feel the need to call out to them or anything like that as he instead smiled,lifted himself off the ground and quietly followed after Rebecca,and once he was just behind her back,the girl slowly turned around when she started to suspect something before she was immediately greeted by Ed's smiling mug.
"ED!" Rebecca gasped and happily exclaimed at the sight of her boyfriend still being alive as she instantly pinned him on the ground and gave him a huge hug,and the others were quickly alerted of the situation as they all turned around and immediately began cheering in happiness at the display while all the couples hugged and kissed each other,and the animals sprinted towards the hermit before they proceeded to assault him with hugs of their own. It was an absolutely perfect way to end the day for the gang as the rest of the kids soon walked towards the reunion and happily joined in on it,all the while Tyrone looked up at the sky and began to quitely laugh to himself.
You know I can't smile without you.
I can't smile without you.
I can't laugh and I can't sing.
I'm finding it hard to do anything.
You see I feel sad when you're sad.
I feel glad when you're glad.
If you only knew what I'm going through.
I just can't smile without you.
You came along just like a song.
And brighten my day.
Who would've believed that you were part of a dream?
Now it all seems lightyears away.
And now you know I can't smile without you.
I can't smile without you.
I can't laugh and I can't sing.
I'm finding it hard to do anything.
You see I feel sad when you're sad.
I feel glad when you're glad.
If you only knew what I'm going through.
I just can't smile.
Now some people say happiness takes so very long to find.
Well I'm finding it hard leaving your love behind me.
And you see I can't smile without you.
I can't smile without you.
I can't laugh and I can't sing.
I'm finding it hard to do anything.
You see I feel glad when you're glad.
I feel sad when you're sad.
If you only knew what I'm going through.
I just can't smile without you.
NEXT CHAPTER: EARLY GOODBYE TO FRANCE
"God Bless Us Everyone." Written by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens.
©️JAY Productions LTD
"Healing Incantation." Written by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater.
©️Walt Disney Music Company
"Can't Smile Without You." Written By Chris Arnold, David C. Martin and Geoff Morrow.
Performed by Barry Manilow.
©️Arista Records Inc.