When the Clock Ticks [Shourtney]

Author's Note and Epilogue

Heeeeey, how you guys doing?

First off, thank you all so much for reading "When The Clock Ticks!" It is my shortest story ever, but I hope you enjoyed it. It is inspired by several main points made in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince," which I was reading at the time I was finishing "Here's To Us."

For now, I'll be off from Wattpad, because I'm getting really busy with online classes for my second year of college. I would chime in once in a while, because for sure, I'll be reading a bunch of stuff here, especially the works of my friends and Shourtney stuff. Who knows, maybe I'll write something new when I'm not so busy.

More importantly, I hope we carry out these lessons from The Little Prince that I've probably hinted at in every chapter:

1. "You become responsible forever for what you have tamed."
2. "What makes a desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well."
3. "Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know."
4. "All grown-ups were once children, but only a few of them remember it."
5. "Growing up is not the problem, forgetting is."
6. "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
7. "Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies."
8. "It is the time you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important."
9. "True love begins when nothing is looked for in return."
10. "There might be millions of roses in the whole world, but you're my only, unique rose."
11. "It doesn't matter that you are not here in person as long as you are in my heart."
12. "The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart."

Lastly, here is the epilogue in Shayne's point of view. Hope you guys enjoy it, and see ya... when I do!

-/-/-

I could barely wake up. But I did.

The past two days haven't been easy at all. I felt like heaven and hell decided to make a sandwich with them as the buns and just flat-out squish me.

I could only wait for sunset. Kari decided to leave Courtney's apartment to me for the time-being, but the truth is, we both knew I was gonna die in some crazy way that neither of us were ready for. So I decided to spend my last day alone, but it didn't feel lonely the moment I declared it.

"Hey, what's up, man?" I greet Damien on the phone as I lie down on Courtney's bed, holding her journal close to me. It smelled like a hospital.

"I was just gonna ask if you were gonna go to the service," he replies, his voice a little low. "It's alright if you don't want to. Take all the time you need to recover and all that."

"Nah, I should," I answer, chuckling slightly. "I really should. I don't wanna end up disappointing a lot of people, and Courtney's parents are there too. They're expecting me to come over."

"Hey, you really don't have to go if you don't want to," he tells me. "I know you'd want to be there with her for the last time, but... your mental health's important too, buddy."

"I'll go, I'm fine, I swear," I assure him. "It's okay. I'm okay, Damien. Thanks for asking."

"You sure?" a woman's voice comes over on speakerphone. "Hey, Sir Psych Guy. You know it in yourself that you're not doing well, so if there's anything we can do to help, we'll be right at your doorstep. If you wanna eat after the service, it's cool too."

I sigh and laugh a little. "Okay. Lasagna's on you, Jade."

"You bet."

"Alright, so we'll see you in a couple of hours?" Damien asks. "Take it easy, bud. We love you."