Happy Ever After Endings...Sort Of.

from thelastfirstkiss.com.au

Ahhh, endings. That last page, or last paragraph or last line that closes out the story. A good ending sticks with you when you close the book, leaves you feeling satisfied, but at the same time sad that the story is over.  A bad ending--one that's too confusing or simplistic---can ruin a book, leaving a sour taste in the reader's memory. It used to be that endings were as simple as adding a happy-ever-after. Not anymore. Endings are slippery, tricky beasts, hard to pin down and even harder to write well. 

Fortunately, we here at the Enchanted Inkpot are brave, intrepid souls and endings don't scare us (much). And to prove it, we've gathered some of the endings from our current projects. Some of these endings, are final, some aren't. But all of them are awesome.

from cornellsun.com

AMAZING ENDINGS

And if you were watching when the sun slunk behind the dark mountain ridge, you would have seen four shadows run across the tarmac, two holding hands, and one chasing a huge shaggy dog, all spotlit by the NASA Ames Research Center lights, falling into the outstretched arms of two shadows crying with happiness. 
     --Keely Parrack


This time, setting out wasn't a new thing. But the day was new, and Piri was new, and so were her wings.
     --Kate Coombs, from  Lemonade Wings (WIP)


Once he'd finished learning all there was to know about Claudette McGavin, he'd go to bed, ready for another day.
     -- Caroline Hooton


"I'd start making up some house rules right now," Conor told Grump's new mum. 
     -- Ellen Booraem


She curled one hand around the carved tiger in her pocket and the other around Emil's strong fingers. Then, connected to both her past and her future, she looked the man in the eye. "My name," she said. "is Shar."
  -- Miriam Forster, from the prequel to City of a Thousand Dolls. (WIP)

from scrabblesense.com

In the lantern light she could see that her gift was a strong, slender sword, its silver hilt scored with sigils and set with moonstones. Meg lifted it to the night. "Once upon a time," she said, "there was a princess who knew she was meant for more than twirling her tresses and swooning."
     --Kate Coombs, from The Runnaway Princess


“You could still be cursed,” I said.
“My curse is broken, right?”
I didn’t say anything.
“Right?” Henry said again.
I tossed the remote onto the futon and headed for the door. “I guess we’re going to find out.”
     -- P.J. Hoover, from Tut (Tor Children's, Winter 2014)


Braeden looked over his shoulder, watching as Inisfail grew farther and farther away, until they sailed through the mists and it disappeared from sight. He was momentarily overcome with sadness, but then he turned back around and saw his parents, friends, and Kira, and knew that wherever he was, as long as they were with him, he was home. 
     -- Erin Cashman, from Legend of the Four


Josie rolled over in bed and opened her eyes. She could still see Nick's face. "I'll wait for you," she said even though she knew he couldn't hear her. "I'll wait forever."
    -- Gretchen McNeil, from 3:59 

from psych-your-mind.blogspot.com

What's YOUR favorite last line?  Any thoughts on happy-ever-after?