Reverie

Epilogue

I needed a good amount of time to fully acknowledge the fact that my first-ever story, Reverie, has come to an end  and that I’m currently writing its epilogue.

The story began on July 14th, 2023.
The exhilaration, anxiousness, and inquisitiveness about where this story was going to lead still feel fresh in my mind.

It all started from one of my "impulsive" writings and eventually grew into an inimitable story.

While writing it, I wavered a lot about how to end the journey. To halt my indecision, I began drafting the epilogue. I started writing down what this story was truly trying to dictate.
Only then did I become determined. After bringing Levis into the spotlight, the only hard task left was to lead the rest of the story to its culmination. In fact, I had already written the ending  and, with hindsight, the description of the story was the preface to that very chapter.

At first, I thought I was the one trying to convey certain messages through this story.
But by the end, I realized: the story was the one that delivered the messages to me — and to all the people who will read it.

The message that anyone with an unfulfilled heart needs.
The message for those whose lives didn’t offer them enough.

Elora Kennedy.

She loved someone.
And, fortunately or unfortunately (depending on one’s perspective), she had to move along with life.

From the author’s perspective, both of the main male characters held significance in Elora’s life.

Levis’s potential to become her partner forever was always conspicuous.
But not everyone will observe the true intention  or the devotion  that was disguised beneath Raven’s final move in this story.

Pushing away Elora.

That’s what it looked like. But deep down, he had an ulterior motive.

At times, sacrifices wear the mask of rejection.

Even he wasn’t entirely aware of what made him lose the urge to hold onto Elora. But he was heedful enough to know that, if they reconciled, he might end up hurting her again.

He said a lot of things that will stay with her for life. But he pushed her away precisely when he realized Elora was on the verge of giving in. Again.

We, as readers, often find it easy to decide who the villain or “bad guy” is when there are two male leads.

But it’s never easy to dive into their depths.

This story illustrates how every person you’ve shared life with, whether for a fleeting moment or a long chapter, has shaped you in one way or another.

They either give you the first taste of love and teach you life’s toughest lessons, or they change your world simply by appearing — and sometimes, only to live on in your reveries.

Elora had already noticed the feeling she longed for reflected in Levis’s eyes  even before she met Raven for the last time.

But it wasn’t enough to stop her, as she was blinded by something else she had newly found in Raven.

Something unmatchable.

But no matter how much you long to stay, you can’t remain where you’re not wanted.
And Elora couldn’t.

The harsh truth was that the only reason she agreed to move on with Levis and start a new life was because Raven rejected her final wish.

It wasn’t simply that Raven couldn’t love her.
Perhaps, he could’ve gotten better. Perhaps, if he had wanted to, he might have given Elora what she desired.