Okay guys. This is it. This is the end. This epilogue is set a few years after the story started. I hope you all love this. So, for the last time, I hope you all really enjoy this chapter. And now, you all may begin crying.
Time has a habit of getting away from people. It passes by in the blink of an eye. It happens so quickly, you don't even realize. One minute, you're a little kid and the next you're almost an adult.
I remembered my fourteenth birthday and how I wished for an adventure, not really expecting to have one. Then I got kidnapped and thrown into all sorts of insane situations. I suppose you really do have to be careful what you wish for.
Then, everything changed. The whole family had moved to Paradox, Colorado. We'd all been enrolled in school and the adults got new jobs. Mom and the Gasman continued teaching, Nudge had opened up her own photography business with Max's help, Fang was still a journalist, Dad worked at a local diner and loved it, and Angel had started her first job as a teacher's aide.
On February 6 in the year I was going to turn fifteen, Griffin Anthony Mullins-Ride had been born and the Flock had gotten a new member. He looked exactly like Fang except that he had Max's light brown hair. Oddly though, he'd been born without wings. No one quite knew why.
Now, I was almost nineteen. I was almost finished with my second year of college. I planned on being a nurse. I loved helping people and I knew I could. Everyday, I drove myself, Skye, Cory, and Willow to the community college where we took our classes.
Skye was going to be a mechanic. Nudge had helped him discover his love for cars. The two of us were living together in our own place and were planning on getting married later on.
Cory, still my best friend in the whole world, wanted to go into songwriting. He actually wasn't half bad. He could really make a career out of it. He and Willow were still together and were considering getting married too.
Willow wanted to be a teacher. Angel had had a lot of influence on her. She and Cory were living together at Cory's mom's house. She was a lot happier than she'd been when I first met her.
Jewel was seventeen and getting ready to graduate high school. In July she'd be turning eighteen. She wanted to be a writer. She said someone needed to tell our story.
We'd all grown up so much and had lived pretty normal lives. We'd heard that the other experiments at the School were also adjusting to normalcy rather well. We'd all done well for ourselves.
"Mel, where are you?" a little voice asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked up, realizing I was sitting in Max and Fang's living room on their couch.
"Uh... in here, Griff." I said to my little cousin who was searching for me. His voice had sounded like it had been coming from the kitchen.
Griffin scurried into the living room upon hearing my voice. "C'mon." he said, grabbing my arm and tugging it. "It's cake time. We're waiting for you." It was his fourth birthday and we were all celebrating. I'd gone off looking for a pair of scissors and had gotten sidetracked.
"Griff! Did you find her?" I heard Skye call from the kitchen.
Griff dropped my arm and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Yeah!" he shouted. "She won't get up though! Help me, Skye! I want cake!"
I chuckled. "I'm coming! I'm coming! Hold your horses!" I got up and followed my cousin into the kitchen. He reminded me of a younger version of myself. He reminded Max, Fang, Dad, Mom, Nudge, Auntie Val, and Ella of the Gasman too.
Everyone was gathered around the large table. Some were standing and some were sitting. They were all smiling and laughing. Jewel was talking to Angel and Willow who was sitting on Cory's lap. Mom and Dad were sitting together talking to each other. Auntie Val, Ella, and Nudge were having a discussion that probably had something to do with my eventual wedding. Total was trying to climb on the table, but wasn't getting anywhere with his attempts. Max was getting into an argument with the Gasman, and Fang was talking to his son who was grinning away.
My eyes found Skye who was leaning against the wall. When he saw me looking, he smiled. I walked over to him and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around me.
"What were you doing?" he whispered in my ear.
"Thinking." I told him, sighing. "I can't believe it's been almost five years since I got kidnapped. It's just... weird."
Skye kissed the top of my head. "I still haven't gotten used to being normal."
"That's because we really aren't." I reminded him.
He nodded his head toward Griffin. "Griff is. Well, actually he's the oddball of the family. But, he's more normal than the rest of us."
I heaved a heavy sigh. "He doesn't even seem upset that he doesn't have any wings. I think it has to do with Ella and Auntie Val. He knows he's like someone in the family, so he isn't bothered that he isn't like most of us."
"Hey!" Gazzy called to me and Skye. "Are you two gonna stand there yakking or are you gonna come over here so we can sing happy birthday to the kid?"
Skye and I laughed, walking closer to the table. We all began singing 'Happy Birthday' to Griffin who was keeping his eyes on the cake, grinning.
The second we stopped singing, we figured why he'd been watching his cake. The thing exploded, spraying everyone in the face with cake. Griffin, the only one not covered in cake, began laughing at all of us. Soon, Skye, Dad, Gazzy, and I joined in with him.
"That was brilliant." I told him, bending down for a high-five.
He took his finger to my cheek and wiped off some icing. "Really?" he asked. When I nodded, he smiled, licking the icing off his finger.
"I thought the expression was 'Like father, like son'." Fang said, wiping cake off his face with a napkin. "Not 'Like uncle, like nephew'." He glared at Dad, looking angry for a moment, and then cracked a smile.
"What can I say?" Dad asked, leaning back in his chair. "The kid looks up to me."
Griff laughed. "Uh uh." he said, shaking his head. "I got this idea from Mel."
"Oh no." Mom groaned. "You told him about the Gasman and the cake bomb, didn't you."
I shrugged sheepishly. "It's possible."
As punishment, Griffin and I had to clean up the kitchen by ourselves. We actually managed to have a lot of fun. He was definitely like me. He knew how to have fun.
When we were done, we went outside on the porch with everyone else. Dad and the Gasman were crouched on the ground. They had fireworks. It was going to be the perfect end to a perfect day.
"Now, this is how you do explosives." Max said, grinning slightly.
Gaz and Dad set them off. The sky was filled with light and color and smoke. Everyone oohed and awhed. They were so beautiful.
I guess to be normal, you don't actually have to be normal. Being normal, being human was all about loving others and having as much fun as you possibly can. So, we were just as normal as everyone else. We were just a little more special.
Life has a way of taking you by surprise. It's wild and weird and wonderful and oddly amazing. You're supposed to make the most of your time. Life can change in the blink of an eye. Trust me on that one.
