a good time to stay goodbye
The shadows are gone, the shadow government has been dismantled, and just about everything’s been wrapped up. There’s really no reason for her to remain in Ocean City.
But for some reason, the thought of leaving makes her stomach churn.
Tam ponders when to make her departure from Ocean City and encounters difficulty deciding.
When Tam opens her eyes, the room is still dark. The sky outside is pitch black with flickering stars, the same unnerving expanse of void that she had become so used to. Ugh. She’s gonna have to properly go stargazing to cleanse her brain of those horrible atrocities.
Well, in that case, she’ll have to get out of Ocean City. It’s always been cloudy here, even without the disturbance of shadows. Maybe she’ll head back to Poughkeepsie… no, she just left there. She’ll need to wait at least two years before she can face her old friends and boss again.
Maybe I could check out Nashville next. Tam thinks, flipping onto her back. Or Chicago. Actually, I’ve been hearing a lot about New Orleans lately. Maybe I should…
No. It’s too close to her old home. That’s somewhere she can never go back to.
Tam stares at the crack in the ceiling for a while. She’ll have to tell Charles about it later so that the next person using this room won’t accidentally get their face smashed by the attic.
…Maybe I’ve gotta start thinking of when to leave.
She’s already been staying at the antique store for about a month now. She didn’t even intend on staying for this long — she had fully planned to leave after she found Murray. The shadows are gone, the shadow government has been dismantled, and just about everything’s been wrapped up. There’s really no reason for her to remain in Ocean City.
But for some reason, the thought of leaving makes her stomach churn.
Well, it makes sense. It’s always like this before she departs. She’s made friends here — real ones — and saying goodbye won’t be easy. But she’s done this before. It’s always a little tough.
She’ll stay a little longer. Margaret’s restaurant is having its grand new-management opening next month, and the Dieot twins should be returning as well. Yeah. She’ll leave after Austin and Betty come back, just so she can properly say goodbye. They’ll understand. Murray understood when she left for college. And when she dropped out. And decided she wouldn’t return.
…Wait, Leah and Simone’s graduation is in May. Should she stay for that? Or come back to visit? But then things would be way too awkward. Or she could send a letter. No, that’s worse, actually.
“Alright, Tams, that’s enough,” she mumbles to herself.
She’s thinking ahead too much. Plus, it’s like two in the morning or something. She peeks at the clock. Never mind, it’s apparently four. Still far too early to be awake.
Tam closes her eyes. She’ll it figure out eventually.
If worst comes to worst, she can do what she’s been doing for the past five years: take off and hope her friends don’t feel too bad about it.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.