Joe pleaded with him to stop, but Ox reached up and touched the empty doorway.
It rippled as if it was the surface of a lake.
And then he stepped back.
The doorway filled with light, warm and sweet.
She was there, standing just on the other side.
Ox smiled at her, a tear trailing down his cheek.
“Maggie?” Mom whispered.
Ox said, “Before you, before all of you, I only had her. I was very lucky, don’t you think?” He never looked away from the woman in front of him. “She believed in me. She told me I was special. That one day people would see just how much. I didn’t know what that meant. Not then. I do now. And it’s because of her. She was my beginning.” He looked back at us over his shoulder. “And you’re my ending.”
From the doorway, Maggie Calloway said, “One you deserve.”
Ox turned back toward her.
She said, “My son. I’m so proud of you. Look at all you’ve become.”
Ox said, “I tried so hard to save you.”
“I know,” Maggie said. “But it was a circle. Ouroboros. It was always going to happen. Nothing you could have done would have changed that.”
“And now?” Ox asked.
“And now the circle is broken. Not yet, Ox. It’s not time yet. One day I will see you again. One day we’ll be together. But not today. And not for a long, long time to come. There is still much for you to see, much for you to do. I’ll be waiting, no matter how long it takes. Listen, Ox. Can you do that for me?”
Ox said, “I love you.”
She raised her hand and pressed it against the barrier in the doorway. It rippled, and Ox pressed his hand against hers. She smiled. And then she tilted her head back and howled.
It sounded like a wolf.
And then she was gone.
Around us, one by one, the doors disappeared.
Ox slowly lowered his hand.
He rolled his shoulders.
He took in a deep breath, then let it out slow.
He said, “Thomas? I know you’re there.”
Kelly gasped. Joe trembled. Mark took a stuttering step forward. Mom covered her mouth with her hand. Gordo closed his eyes.
I saw him first.
He stepped out from the trees. A white wolf with a smattering of black on his chest and back.
I said, “Dad?”
Each step the wolf took was slow and deliberate. The moment his paws touched the ground, green grasses shot up from the earth. The territory vibrated at the weight of its king.
He stopped before us, eyes red.