Ending of Chapter Thirty-Nine:
Then I saw Alden holding the candle.
The top spot was empty and waiting for my candle.
Day #6: Chapter Forty
Looking around the Lobby at the now familiar faces, I was overcome with what had transpired in such a short time. I also wondered how I would explain arriving back in my life with 69 other children and adults. One thing was sure, I was not going to leave anyone behind.
I had forgotten that Alden had used a stepladder to help him get my candle that first night. It was waiting for me, and I wondered if my exhausted legs could even climb it—sometimes the body didn’t have a choice and I hoped it would not fail me now. I didn’t even want to consider how many stairs I had climbed.
Then the building seemed to shudder, and a crack appeared on the ceiling.
I quickly climbed the stepladder, took the candle from Alden, and placed it in the empty space.
All the candles began to glow brightly as I stepped back down the ladder. The individual flames grew so large that they appeared to be all one flame. The room lit up like daylight and the building began creaking from every direction.
Looking across the room, I saw the door.
I threw on my backpack, grabbed my luggage and everyone parted like the red sea as I ran for the door.
I didn’t stop running until I was some distance from the hotel. Turning, I could still see the Hotel Candelabra sign as the entire building began to collapse into itself. Terrified, I looked around to see if everyone had escaped with me. Even more terrified, I saw no one.
“It is Okay, they made it out.”
I turned to see an even more ancient Alden standing beside a delivery truck. The back was open, and it was filled with luggage, backpacks, and an assortment of random objects. A bicycle stood waiting to be loaded.
Relieved that everyone had made it out, I went to the other side of the truck to look for them. They weren’t there either.
“You won’t find them out here,” Alden said. “They are all a part of you now. The cottage is waiting for you. It is time to begin your new life. Now you have everything you need. You now know how to take care of yourself. It is going to be a wonderful life.”
Alden put the bicycle inside the truck, rolled down the door, and climbed into the driver’s seat. I opened the passenger door and saw him pat the place where I should sit one more time. Before climbing in the truck, I looked back at the empty space where Hotel Candelabra had once stood. Did this really even happen? How would I ever be sure it did?
Shrugging the thought off, I decided that I had come far enough to believe my own truth and that was all that mattered. I willed my weary legs and arms to hoist myself into the truck and felt something jab me in the leg as I sat down.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a miniature candelabra. Turning toward Alden, I realized he had vanished, and my husband was sitting in the driver’s seat instead.
Laughing, I asked, “What on earth are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? I have been waiting in this truck while you ran into a hotel to use their restroom. What is that?” he asked, pointing to the small candelabra in my hand.
Shaking my head, I said, “Let’s go unload the truck and get settled. This is going to be a long story.”
And so it was that I came to the End of the Beginning of the End.