EPILAUGE
It was truly the last time that anyone every saw Dally, or his family. Every now and then a letter would appear, but there was never a return address. The letters stopped coming, eventually, in 1996, when Dallas should have turned 47. The last letter was from a lawyer's address, and it was as such:
Dear Mr. Curtis,
I regret to inform you of the passing of Mr. Dallas Winston. In his will he leaves you in possession of a small wooden box of assorted items. It should be following shortly, and you should receive it by the 6th of June. If it is not received the aforementioned box, promptly send a letter and we will do our best to track it down. Enclosed in this letter is a key for the lock on the box.
Our Deepest Sympathy,
Martin J. Browne Jr.,
The Law Offices of Martin J. Browne Sr. & Sons
True to Mr. Browne's letter, a small package arrived later that week. Enclosed in the package was the small wooden box, which they decided they should be around for. Darry placed it on the kitchen table later that night, and turned the key. A small 'click' was heard from the lock, and Darry lifted the lid of the small box, roughly 8 inches long, 5 inches wide, and about 3 inches tall. All that was inside was a small note, a newspaper article or two and five photographs.
One photograph showed the entire gang. Everyone remembered when that picture was taken: it had been a few months before the death of Mr. & Mrs. Curtis. They had all been posing out front of the lot and a neighbor had taken the photo for them. Mr. And Mrs. Curtis smiled from the back.
The second photo showed Dally and Tim Shepherd clowning around. Curly had taken that one. It was actually quite good of a photo of Dally. He was smiling and happy, even. So was Tim. Then there was a photo of Johnny and Ponyboy day-dreaming. Then there was a family portrait of Dally's family, probably taken not that long ago. In it both his children were teenagers, and the girl looked even more like Dally. Dally looked fairly ragged around the edges, evidence of his hard life and his teen alcoholism.
The last photo was of Dally, standing in front of a middle-class ranch style house, smiling at the camera, with a black puppy in his arms. They guessed it was his house and his dog. He had always wanted a dog.
The oldest newspaper article was from the Tulsa Times. It was the report of the Windrexville fire, and the "Hoods Turned Heroes". Then there was Johnny's obituary. And finally, the announcement of Dally's wedding, and of his children's' births.
Last was the note. It was addressed to Darry, and he opened it. Six short words and four punctuation marks were written in Dally's classic scrawl. It read:
Darry,
Thank you. For everything.
-Dally