What Happened Next

Goodbyes

Earnest was quiet when he returned home from fishing that night.
Claire, petty about the mornings disagreement, was also of few words.
They went to bed, mumbling their good nights to each other.

Claire was out like a light, but Earnest tossed and turned.
The old mans words hadn't left his mind for a minute since he had heard them.

"I faked my death 30 years ago..."

"I miss what I left behind, but if I didn't, I wouldn't have what I've got today..."

One word in particular stood out to Earnest.

Freedom.

All his life he'd craved it. To have complete freedom, to do whatever he wanted, it wasn't possible.
But yet it could be, if he could work up the courage.

At around 5:30, Earnest felt a little more at peace, and dozed off into a light sleep, only to be woken at 6 by his wife.

"Get up, old man."

She loved to pick on him for his age - she seemed to find some odd delight in it that Earnest couldn't understand.

He groaned.

"Why so early? We're not leaving till ten."

"Change of plans. Get up, we're leaving in an hour."

With that, she flipped her medium length blonde hair over her shoulder and walked out of the posh bedroom to make some coffee.

Disgruntled, Earnest heaved himself out of bed.
Gosh, he did feel old this morning. His back ached and his eyes just wouldn't open.
He stumbled into his ensuite to splash icy water over his face.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror.
He had darkened skin and excess wrinkles as a result of spending as much time outside as he could over the years.
His oil-black hair was thinning and slowly fading at the sides.
He was getting thinner every week. He couldn't tell if it was because of unhappiness or forgetting to bring a sandwich on his fishing trips.
Still, he was probably healthier than most other 50 year olds.

After dressing and combing his hair nicely, Earnest met Claire in the kitchen for breakfast.
His 46 year old wife could've been a model. She had thick hair, big eyes and very few blemishes on her skin.
She had much paler skin than Earnest, as she preferred to stay indoors.

After a quick breakfast of toast and porridge, Earnest and Claire drove off to see their children.
Unbeknownst to Claire, this would be the last time they'd see them together.

They pulled up to the massive estate of the boarding school. Claire waited outside the car while Earnest went to the office to sign the girls out for a few hours.

Daisy and Selena ran out to the driveway, pleased to be the lucky ones who were going for an outing.

"Mummy!"

Selena threw herself onto Claire for a massive hug.

"Dad!"

She moved onto her father as Daisy had her turn to hug her mum.

"Nice to see you two."

Earnest always forgot how much he loved seeing his children.

"What are we doing?" Daisy asked.

"We thought we'd go for a walk down the street then out to lunch before dropping you back for your afternoon classes. How does that sound?" Claire asked.
"Awesome!" They said in unison.

An hour later, Earnest found himself walking down the street like a body guard while the girls shopped like mad things.
This went on for three hours. Usually Earnest would be annoyed, but today he savoured his last few hours together  as a family.
Before he teared apart his family.

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Thank you to everyone who has read this so far. I hate to be annoying, but you have no idea how much I'd appreciate even one comment on any part of the story, wether it be nice or constructive criticism.
Have a lovely existence !