Jackson Jones, Book 1_ The Tale of a Boy, an Elf, and a Very Stinky Fish - Jenn L. Kelly [50]
“Did she jump?” she asked.
Jackson was surprised, but he nodded.
“She probably won’t come back,” she said.
Jackson nodded again. “She told me that you used to go there.”
“When I was younger,” she paused. “I thought places like this didn’t last.”
She smiled.
Chapter 78
In Which We Learn Even More
Jackson and his mom walked back to the house holding hands. They hadn’t held hands in a long time, and she missed that. Any mother reading this will know the feeling.
They climbed up the back steps and opened the welcoming back door. Dust danced in the sunlight that seeped through the windows. The large crystal chandelier cast one or two feeble rainbows on the walls. The hallway of tables and mirrors mounted in old gilt frames beckoned them in.
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“Great-Aunt Harriett changed. I mean, well, her hair got uh, smaller. And she grew. Like she got taller. And she wasn’t lisping anymore!” Jackson blurted.
Her eyebrows frowned thoughtfully. “Well,” she began slowly. “I guess it was time for her to be her real self.”
“What does that mean? Be her real self?” Jackson asked. He didn’t understand at all. “I don’t understand at all.”
“I think when you get older, you’ll understand better.”
“What? That’s not fair! Tell me now!”
Jackson’s mom smiled at him. “Have you ever heard of the Author?”
They were interrupted by a tinkling in the air, of something magical happening.
A pink envelope appeared on a red table.
Jackson picked it up and turned it over in his hands. He handed it to his mom and she opened it.
She read it out loud.
This is what it said, exactly.
Jackson hugged his mom. She held him tightly.
“We should go visit them soon,”
she said. Jackson agreed, hugging her tighter.
Epilogue
A couple of questions weren’t answered for you, so I’m answering them for you now.
The cosine of 7.88 is 0.99055738.
The Spanish word for “couch” is el sofa.
And I suppose you have more questions.
Will there be another book? Will there be a prequel so you can read more about Meeka and Rayaa and Eleissa? Will you find out if Rayaa and Eleissa were promoted? Does Meeka ever get promoted? Does Great-Aunt Harriett find Josh? Does Jackson ever return to where they all are? How does he get there? What is that place anyway? Can I go there?
The answers to these questions are: Probably. I think so. I don’t see why not. I think she could be, but it’ll take awhile. Probably. I don’t see why not. I can’t say. You’ll get it someday. Only if you get it.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, thank you, Lord, for making this dream come true!
Thank you, Danny, for working two jobs. Thank you for never complaining about my lack of housekeeping skills. You see me and you know my heart. I love you, and you are my hero. Here’s to Paris.
Thank you to all of my encouraging fans, especially the ones who were there from the beginning. Thank you to my three Glennie girls for letting me borrow your wonderful personalities and idiosyncrasies. Thank you to Burb, who effortlessly edited what she could, and to Zuzu for letting me borrow Josh. Thank you, Suzanne. Thank you to Gigi, who told me I had to write another one. Thank you to Sylvia, who gave me The Dreamgiver and told me to just write it. Thank you to Andy Meisenheimer, who saw potential in this crazy girl and put the manuscript right into the best hands. Thank you to Kathleen, my beautiful, genius editor who is brilliant at her job and is a brilliant friend. I can’t wait to work with you more. And I can’t wait for California. Disco balls and lattes, baby.
And finally, thank you to Jackson for being my hero. You are my heart walking around outside my body. Keep God in your heart and you’ll never fail. Find your story, my little gaffer. I know it’ll be awesome. I love you.
ZONDERKIDZ
Jackson Jones: The Tale of a Boy, an Elf, and a Very Stinky Fish
Copyright © 2010 Jennifer Kelly
Illustrations © 2010 Ariane Elsammak
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the