Author Note:
The final part! I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this. This epilogue is really more of an explanation, kind of filling in all the holes I left in the plot (Tee hee!). Hope it makes more sense... A warm thanks to all of you who stuck with me 'till the end! I hope to see you in the final author note for "Forgotten Portrait." I'm really sad it's over D: (I didn't need a disclaimer this time, YAY!)
Also, I hope this ending satisfies all readers alike, whether you're an Ib fan, a Garry fan, or a Mary fan.
Love chu all~ Keep Reading :)
~Scar
Epilogue:
"Guertena Weiss Rose, a short summary of life, and death. We can all agree that Guertena was a strange man, with an even stranger personality and painting style," The plaque read. Syam read the letters with a very low amount of interest. "Contrary to popular belief, the name 'Guertena' is actually the painters first name, though he rarely used it; preferring instead to be called 'Garry'. Why Guertena refused to use his last name is still a mystery, although the reason is believed to be the fact that it dredged up too many painful memories. It is also a mystery as to why he used his middle name, Weiss, as a 'pen name'" She had been dragged to the art museum after days and DAYS of pestering from her parents, and wasn't really all that thrilled to be there. Somewhere in the previous room, a tour guide blabbed on and on, spewing useless facts about Guertena left and right, to anyone who would take the time to listen. Syam blocked it out, turning up the volume on her Ipod until she was left in her own world. Her eyes lazily drifted back to the plaque. "A man whose life centered around insanity and depression was bound to end up as his did, filled with hallucination and suffering. Guertena left us a fairly detailed diary in the days leading up to his death, one that can be read in full..." Syam yawned. This stuff was really made to be boring wasn't it? But it wasn't like she had anything else to do...
The plaque continued on to describe the events that had led up to his mental illness. "When Guertena was about 20, he proposed to a young woman named Isamina Bourgie, a smart girl who aspired to become a professional lawyer and take the world by storm. Guertena was head-over-heels for her. They married, and Isamina saved up for law school. Guertena originally was headed in the direction of science and doctoral medicine." Syam was already bored. Let's skip a bit here... "Followed by their untimely death a few years before his own." Syam reread the previous few sentences. "Guertena was extremely excited to become a parent, and Isamina felt the same way. They both saved their money to be able to provide for the young, unborn child." Syam nodded to herself, and continued on. "They had decided to call their child Mary, after Isamina's mother." I never really understood why parents did that. It's kind of weird really. "Once Mary and Isamina were declared dead after their fatal car accident, Guertena really lost it. He began to paint, and to write short stories, dropping out of his prior field and becoming a full time artist. He only ever kept one small leather-bound diary, which he began to write the day after his family's deaths. It starts out with:
"Day 1.
"I'm alone. How long have I been alone? Ever since her death, it's as though my own gallery is trapping me, the paintings seem to loom closer every day. Every MINUTE. They're getting closer, faster and faster. What do I do? How to escape if not through writing? The gallery has swallowed me whole. I am consumed by a raging fear of my own creations as I fall further and further into the depths of my own twisted mind.
"-G
"He seems to deteriorate even further from there, slowly becoming more and more insane with each stroke of the pen. On Day 47, Guertena writes this:
"The girl has arrived, the young one with the bright red eyes. She loves to explore. I like the color red. It complements blue.
"Her name is Ib; and she's here to stay.
"Maybe her and Mary will become friends, I know my daughter could do with a playmate. Those dolls never really seemed to fit her tastes.
"-G
"In it are direct references to his late wife and child, confirming his deteriorating mind to have fallen off of the edge. In his diary, Guertena refers to Isamina by her initials, I.B., though doesn't change the name of his young daughter Mary..."
Woah, this guy must've been really messed up. Syam thought as she glanced around the gallery once more. It was hard to believe that Guertena's insanity had allowed him so much creativity, his art was really beautiful.
"He began to lose his identity, along with his insanity. Forgetting who he was and where he was. On the last dated page of his diary, 100 days after the death of his wife and child, he finally acknowledged the fact that he was insane, in his entry:
"Day 100.
"I'm G.
"I figured it out.
"And now, I'm going to die.
"I'm sorry Ib.
"-G.
"He committed suicide approximately an hour afterwards." Syam nodded sadly, and walked around the rest of the gallery, a newfound respect for the late painter filling her heart as she took in the art he spent so long artfully crafting. There were three that really stood out to her, one titled "Forgotten Portrait," his only self portrait, "The Lady in Red" supposedly a representation of Isamina herself, and "Mary."
The last canvas was covered in black.
END: The truth.