...and lived happily ever after.
But then what?
What happened after all that?
Did they have kids? Grandchildren? Did the evil stepsister come back to exact her revenge? Did his best friend ever become a rock star and buy the jet pack?
Yes, even though I'm short of breath following all the excitement that makes the story what it is... I still want to know.
A part of it may be that I grow so strongly attached to the characters. They become my friends... I care about them, I care about their lives. I want to see them twenty years later... see for myself that not only are they doing well, but that they've succeeded.
Different from a sequel, or a series (although we WILL get into that another day), it's the after that you continue to ponder even when you've been rest assured that everything turned out okay.
Life doesn't just stop at happily ever after, does it?
I do understand the other side of the coin though--sometimes endings are best left exactly where they are. Trying to return to something twenty years later and re-create the same mood often fails. It's always better to end on a high note.
But gosh darn it, I still want to know.
I guess this is why I write... so I can make up my own "after happily ever afters" ;)
Are you guys okay with the happy/satisfying endings you're given? Do you ever wonder what happens to your favorite characters after? Am I the only crazy one who cares to know?
