Dustin was in the courtyard looking through his telescope. He was about fifteen years older now. Sarah walked through the doorway.
"I put your shoes away, again." She said.
"Ah, thank you, dear."
She walked towards him as he leaned up to kiss her. After the kiss she leaned over and peered through the telescope.
"I've been looking through this thing on and off for forty years and I still don't see want you and Jaymie find so fascinating."
"Fine, Then maybe you'll sit down and rest the way you're supposed to." Dustin said.
"You treat me like some frail flower. People have surgery all the time." Sarah said.
At that moment a sound of a saxophone is played in the house drew Dustin's look. He shook his head a little, and then moves back to his telescope. Sarah saw his reaction.
"He loves playing. He's good at it, you know." She said.
"He loves doing a lot of things. One week he wanted to be an astrologist. The next week a teacher. I wish he could find some focus in his life." Dustin said with a hint of frustration in his voice.
"I think he has." Sarah said.
Dustin looked at her with a surprised and curious face.
"Maybe you should talk to him." Sarah said.
Dustin realized something was going on.
"RYLAN?" Dustin called.
The music stopped and Rylan stepped through the door way.
"Father?"
"I get the feeling from your mother that you have something to tell me."
Rylan and Sarah shared a brief glance.
"Yeah. I was waiting for the right moment but that will never come. I'm leaving school."
"Leaving school? No, you're not."
"I want to concentrate on my music. It's what I care about." Rylan said.
"Last year, all you cared about was history. A year before that, astrology."
"But through it all there was my music. I think you know that father." Rylan said. "This is what I want."
Dustin looked at him, realizing that his children will go their own way regardless.
"We'll….discuss it." Dustin said.
"Thank you, father." Rylan said before going back into the house.
Sarah looked at him.
"Even after all these years, you still have the ability to surprise me." She said.
"If music is what he wants, who am I to stand in his way?"
The next day, Dustin was on his way back from a morning hike and he saw his son come sprinting up the road.
"Father!"
"What is it?"
"It's mother."
The two of them hurried back to their home.
Shortly later, the two of them arrived and ran into the house. A grim faced doctor rose from his inspection of Sarah, who lied on a couch with a blanket covering her.
"Doctor?" Dustin asked.
The doctor just shook his head.
"You see, I'll go to any lengths to get your attention." Sarah said weakly.
"You always had a flair for the dramatic." Dustin said as he knelt down and held Sarah's hand.
"Doctor, Rylan….leave us along for a moment. I want to talk to my husband."
The two of them leave the room.
"I just want you to know. I believed you about the other life."
Dustin smiled. Sarah reached up and lightly touched his cheek.
"Remember, put your shoes away." She said.
"I will." Dustin said.
Sarah closed her eyes and without any indication she died. Dustin looked at her for a few seconds then buried his head in the folds of her blanket.