At the end of the novel I (Natalie) say:
“I was alone, and grown-up, and powerful, and not at all afraid.”
This is one way to end a story.
This is how I ended it. How Shirley ended it.
.....
But you know you craved a different ending.
You know the soft landing disappointed you.
You were expecting me to disappear.
You hungered for it, turning pages like lighting matches, urging me towards an appropriate finale, a feminine ending, as they say—
An irresistible sadism.
The girl exiting the woods unscathed is so much less interesting than a girl not exiting at all.
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