Travelers

Epilogue and Author's Note

Jacob slapped his alarm clock and rolled out of bed. He normally would have stayed in bed, it being a weekend. He had forgotten to turn off the bothersome buzzer. He rummaged through his drawer, picked out a t-shirt he had gotten on his vacation to Canada, and threw on a pair of jeans. He walked down the hall outside his room and downstairs, snagging a box of cereal as he slid into the kitchen. He sat at the counter and poured the peanut butter puffs into his bowl. He stared at them for a moment before digging in. He only had enough time to check his bag once before his mom was calling him to the van. The church morning was normal, and he relaxed through the afternoon until it was time for journey groups.

Upon arriving at the student center, 45 minutes early as usual, he greeted his friends and played a few rounds of Gaga ball. By the time 6 o'clock rolled around, he was covered in sweat, and it was a game night anyway. He sat for the evening message that their youth pastor would give, and greeted the other guys in his group. Their group leader was talking with another kid, and the two soon joined them where they were sitting. Jacob finally got a good look at the kid's face. He had a nasty burn scar right across his face, but Jacob was determined to not allow looks stop him from getting to know the guy.

"Hey, I'm Jacob," he said, offering the kid his hand. Instead of returning the greeting, the kid seemed to stare a hole through Jacob's hand. He awkwardly drew back his hand and sat back. The kid wasn't exactly friendly, but he seemed so mysterious Jacob couldn't resist shooting glances his way, though he might have had a second reason for looking in his direction. Cat was sitting on the other side of the room, taking notes over what the speaker was saying.

They all enjoyed a game of ultimate frisbee after the message, and the new kid sat staring at Jacob, Cat, and Mal as they all played. Jacob wouldn't have told Cat, but he happened to let her catch the frisbee more than once. One time it even gave her the chance to make the winning throw. Tonight was no exception to this habit. He found he could mask the moments he let her succeed by making bold defensive plays when they were closer to the middle of the field. When their game was done, the kid with the scar approached the three friends.

"Hey," he started quietly, "could I talk to you guys?"

"Of course!" Mal responded, inviting him into the conversation.

"Great. Sorry about the cold attitude earlier Jacob. Mind if we start again?"

"Not at all. Hey, I'm Jacob," he repeated, offering the stranger his hand once again. He took the hand this time and shook it, introducing himself.

"I'm happy to meet some friends here. I'm Ryan, and I'm sure we'll all be great friends."

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Jacob, Cat, Mal, and Ryan will return (maybe)

In...

Travelers

World Walkers

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Author's Note

This story has been a journey, dare I say one I traveled. I will of course thank all of the people whom I based the characters off of, including Jacob, Cat, Mal, Vince, Richard, Rose, Calen, Karen, Kate, Kait (though her character will be more significant than a random mentioning from Sam when [if] I write the second book), and Samuel. I would also thank every person who reads this book. I wrote this book as an encouragement to those who haven't read as many great books to read some of these amazing classics, so please share the story with friends. From the classics that I included, like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, to the slightly less well known stories, like Renegades or Carve the Mark, I would greatly encourage anyone that hasn't read these fabulous tales to do so.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family for putting up with me as I wrote this. I told them that I wouldn't give them a copy until I was finally done with the first draft, so thank you for waiting like everyone else who reads it!

This comment is only to my readers on Wattpad! I definitely am so thankful for each and every reader who took the time to read Travelers all the way to the end, and I would encourage you to check out my next book, Basic. I will begin working on World Walkers following it's success (or failure), but I would appreciate any reads, votes, and especially comments on Basic as I write it!