‘How… did she die?’ Amari asked through knotted throat.
‘At childbirth,’ he answered. ‘She was having their second baby. It didn’t survive, either.’
‘My parents had another child after me?’ it was getting too much to take for Amaranthine. ‘And they had me… after TAMI?’
‘Yes, they did,’ Sam nodded. ‘They gave up their immortality to have you. You were born in 2026, not 2025.’
‘But… my birth certificate, I saw it, too, I’ve got it somewhere. And their death certificates… how did they get faked? And why?’
‘Your father was an officer of high rank in the Secret Services,’ Samuel explained, ‘he had his ways. Dorothy and I were very intimidated by the whole thing, we weren’t told everything at the time. We didn’t know the whole truth until he was killed in action a couple of years later; he left us a letter. He… left one for you as well. But according to his will it wasn’t to be released by his lawyers until you committed yourself to becoming a Mortal.’ He took an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her. ‘I hope this explains more and answers at least some of your questions.’
She took the envelope with a shaky hand.
‘I’m sorry we weren’t honest with you all those years, Amari,’ he said, tears swelling up in his eyes again. ‘At first we didn’t have a choice and then we couldn’t find the right moment to tell you. I just want you to know that we always had your best interest at heart and love you as our own.’
‘I know,’ she said absent-mindedly, still trying to come to terms with the enormity of the news. ‘Thank you for coming all this way, but I think I need to be alone right now.’
‘Of course,’ he said, getting up. ‘If you… you know, would like to talk about it, or ask anything… you know where to find us.’
‘Thanks, Samuel.’
When he left, she sat there for a while, unable to bring herself to open her father’s letter. This explains so much, she thought. Why I can’t remember anything about my parents, and why Samuel and Dorothy tried to make me stay at the orphanage longer than I had to… I was seventeen, not eighteen, when I left Sunny Oaks. But why would my father want me to remain immortal when he and my mother gave up their immortality to have children?
The answer was in the sealed envelope in her hand.
She opened it carefully and straightened the pages that had waited for this moment for over eighty years.
Daniel returned to the living room to find Amari staring bluntly into space, pages of a hand-written letter spread out on the coffee table.
‘Is everything ok, darling?’ he asked, sitting next to her and glancing at the pages covered with orderly script. ‘It isn’t some bad news, is it?’
‘That depends on how you want to look at it,’ she said, still stunned.
‘What do you mean?’
She handed him the letter. ‘It’s from my father.’
‘Your father?’ Daniel took the pages and looked at the date. NYC, April 15th, 2030. ‘But I thought your parents died in 2028.’
‘So did I,’ she said. ‘Just read it.’
Just like her, Daniel had to read each line twice to be able to take in the message they carried.
‘I don’t believe this,’ he said when he finished. ‘He wanted you to be immortal, because he felt guilty about the death of his wife and second child? Your parents were both Mortals and yet he made you hate all Mortals by blaming them for his and your mother’s death?’
‘I know…’ she whispered, ‘he just couldn’t bear the thought of me dying, too. And if it hadn’t been for you, I would have never found out the truth. It was you who made me stop living by my father’s will and choose my own way.’
‘I think on some level he knew you’d make your own choice,’ Daniel said. ‘Otherwise he wouldn’t have left you this letter.’
‘I think you’re right,’ she said, then sank into his arms. They provided warmth, safety and comfort. ‘He must have remembered what it was like to meet the love of your life and create a family together. Even if his happiness only lasted a few years.’
They sat together in tight embrace for a long while, each in their own thoughts. Finally, Amari freed herself from his arms.
‘C’mon, darling,’ she said. ‘Let’s get to bed. Early start tomorrow. We’ve got some more Immortals to convince that us Mortals aren’t pure evil. And we don’t want to be sleepy at our weekly meeting with Dr. Life.’
Amari gathered the pages of her father’s letter and put them back into the envelope. She knew that she’d read it many more times in the days to come.
I think you may want to watch the news, Amari, Eiko’s voice resounded in her head.
Now? It’s late…
Not for this.
‘Daniel?’
‘Yes?’
‘Eiko says there’s some super important news on. Should we have a quick look?’
‘Ok.’
The idatron activated and they settled to see what the fuss was about.
At first, all they could see was the ‘breaking news’ strip, so big that it took up a quarter of the screen. Then they saw an image of a planet. A planet that was blue and green just like Earth. But it was obvious, even at the first glance, that it was not Earth.
‘NASA has just confirmed that a planet suited for human habitation was found in Nadeyya Galaxy. It orbits its star just like Earth orbits our Sun, within the circumstellar habitable zone, also known as the Goldilocks zone, and therefore provides the ideal range of temperatures for the development of life. Plants and animals as we know them here, on Earth. And humans.’
Amari and Daniel looked at each other’s eyes as the magnitude of the news hit them. Did that mean…?
‘That’s right, ladies and gentlemen,’ the reporter answered their silent question. ‘It means that we no longer have to make the choice between immortality and having children. We can have both… All we need to do is move to Earth II.’
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENS
I would like to thank my best friend, Magda Dundas, for the unlimited rounds of edits and for always being there for me.
Thanks also go to my good friend Chris Meade for honest feedback, creative ideas for improvements, and fixing the title!
Helen Turner, thank you for reading, pointing out mistakes and helpful suggestions.
Thank you, Jenni Brassel, for your professional insight and advice, it is very much appreciated.
Anna Gravdal, you’ve been great throughout. Thank you for the compliments and corrections, they all made this novel as good as it could become.
I’d like to thank my Parents and siblings for the support and unconditional belief in my abilities and my English teacher, Mrs. Pasicka, for everything she taught me.
Last but not least, this novel would not have seen the light of day if it hadn’t been for my beloved husband, Steve, to whom it is dedicated.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I was born and grew up in Poland. After graduating from the Academy of Physical Education in Krakow with MA in Tourism, I moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, where I met my husband, Steve.
We left Scotland on November 20th, 2006, four weeks after our wedding, with the aim of working our way around the world. Travelling was something both of us wanted to do, but it wasn’t until we found each other that we finally made our dream come true.
We started by backpacking around Africa for three months, then took the Trans-Siberian Railway all the way across Russia to Mongolia. After a week in Beijing, we started a one-year contract in South Korea. We were both teaching English as a second language.
In March 2008 we set off again. We spent fantastic 11 days in Japan, then two months in India, a few weeks in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. After that it was time to work again – this time in Sydney, Australia. Unfortunately, that’s where the financial crisis caught up with us and we both lost our jobs. We decided to go back to South Korea to teach English and we did that until August 2011. We made a
lot of friends there and Gwangju, the city we lived in, will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Cash replenished, we were ready to hit the road again. We had an amazing time in New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines. Then it was time to visit home – first time in 5 years!
We didn’t stay put for long, though. Soon we found ourselves living and working in the most conservative Muslim country in the world – Saudi Arabia. It was an incredible experience that opened our eyes to a lot of facts and misconceptions about this part of the world. We currently live and work in Bahrain.
Although all characters and events in ‘Immortal’ are 100% fictional, you may have guessed that a lot of my personal experiences and passions have found a way into this novel, not the least of them my love for Scotland.
I hope you enjoyed my book and if you did, please tell your friends and family about it. If you could also write a brief review on your favorite retailer’s site, it would mean a lot to me.
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