WHAT I KNOW

When they bring the last film from Rosie's camera, Sarah Linden will take it from Stephen's hands, and take it down the hall. She'll watch the movies, frame by frame, and say goodbye.

She'll leave it in the Larsen's mailbox, and they'll watch it together. A Film By Rosie Larsen. Bob Dylaning a letter goodbye, one card at a time, as she documents her farewells. Butterflies and seagulls, the shore and the forest. All the things she loved the most.

I know the world is vast.
I know I want to see it all.
Just like you wanted to, Mom.
I don't know where I'm going
but I'll let you know when I get there.

It'll end with her beautiful face, watching the butterflies. In love with the world, with every single part of it. Ready to see it all. Neither subterranean nor homesick; carrying them with her:

I don't know where I'm going, she'll say, but I'll let you know when I get there.

She won't look back.

Sarah and Stephen will sit in the car outside, as they watch, saying goodbye to the Larsens. And when his phone rings, they'll have found a body on the water. She'll look at him, for a moment, and then she'll get out of the car, and smile when he says goodbye.

Holder: "We got the bad guy."
Linden: "Oh yeah? Who's that?"

She'll put the world back together. And then she'll start walking.

JACOB CLIFTON is a freelance writer and critic based in Austin, Texas. He currently recaps The Killing, Bunheads, Pretty Little Liars and True Blood for TWoP. Jacob can be found online at jacobclifton.com, on Twitter, and on Facebook. IRL work appears in BenBella's SmartPop series of anthologies, and novelette "The Commonplace Book" will appear on Tor.com in October 2012.