{"id":2951,"date":"2013-06-08T17:08:58","date_gmt":"2013-06-08T21:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=2951"},"modified":"2025-02-18T19:13:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T00:13:50","slug":"the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=2951","title":{"rendered":"The End (by faust)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: <\/span>It’s the end. The end of everything–or is it?\u00a0 \u00a0No KAOS in this story. Honestly!<\/p>\n

700 words, rated K<\/p>\n

My Story Index and reading order for the Art-Universe<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

<\/h2>\n

The End<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the end of the family,\u201d Joe cries, and you cringe.<\/p>\n

Of course, for Joe it must feel like that. For Joe, this family has always consisted of Pa, and Hoss, and Joe\u2014and you, Adam, for as long as he can remember. He doesn\u2019t know a family can be a father and two sons, or even a father and only one son. He will learn that in time, you\u2019re sure.<\/p>\n

But anyway, you\u2019re leaving the Ponderosa, not the family; and you hope that one day Joe will understand that you\u2018re taking the family with you, in your heart, wherever you go. They\u2019re all there, Pa, Hoss, and Joe, too, whether you\u2019re on the Peloponnese or in Trafalgar Square.<\/p>\n

Joe might think you\u2019re abandoning the family, but you\u2019re only abandoning the Ponderosa\u2014and the Ponderosa isn\u2019t a part of the family, nor is the family a part of the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n

Maybe Joe will realise that some time, too.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the end of an era,\u201d Pa proclaims, and you barely resist the urge to guffaw.<\/p>\n

How very Ben Cartwright to put it like that. An era, no less. Nothing is ever smaller than gargantuan, nothing ever less than Very Important. Significant. Greater than life. Like Ben Cartwright Himself.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019d give his sons a bit more importance, a bit more responsibility for the significant…. If he\u2019d give a damn for the ideas the college educated brains of his firstborn produced….<\/p>\n

No, it wouldn\u2019t change anything. The Ponderosa still wouldn\u2019t satisfy the needs of someone with an ever-inquiring, ever-learning mind, for someone who is yearning for stimulation.<\/p>\n

In time, perhaps, Pa will realise that you can bequeath land, cattle, money, barrel chests and dark booming voices\u2014but not dreams. Dreams are individual, and everyone needs to follow his very own. Even though one doesn\u2019t have to be a genius to make out this simple truth, it took you several years to understand that having a different dream from your father\u2019s is not betrayal.<\/p>\n

You hope that Pa will forgive you figuring it out.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the end of you hurtin\u2019,\u201d says Hoss, and like so many times before, you just want to embrace him for that and cry on his shoulder like a little child.<\/p>\n

Of course, Adam Cartwright Doesn\u2019t Do such a thing and so you limit yourself to squeezing your brother\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n

And Hoss says, \u201cThere, there, brother\u201d and pulls you into the embrace you couldn\u2019t initiate, presses your face into his shoulder, and gives you enough time to conjure up an embarrassed face before he sets you free.<\/p>\n

Free. You know he wants to have you stay, but he also understands that you have to go. What he doesn\u2019t see is that living on the Ponderosa wasn\u2019t hurting you all the time. You\u2019ve been happy here for a very long time, you\u2019re still happy here every once in a while. But over the past years, boredom, tristesse<\/em> and longing for more<\/em> have overshadowed the width, the quiet, and the beauty of nature.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve said your good-byes, you\u2019ve taken your horse out of the old barn for one last time, you\u2019ve turned around and waved back as you were riding away, for as long as you could see them standing there: your family before the ranch house that had been your home for so many years.<\/p>\n

Now there\u2019s only the road before you, your dream, your uncertain future\u2014and it strikes you nearly violently: this isn\u2019t the end.<\/p>\n

This is a fresh start, the beginning of the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

And you laugh.<\/p>\n

__________
\nIn the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.
\n~ Abraham Lincoln<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***fin***<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

With many thanks to Sklamb, for her considerate beta-reading.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.\u00a0 The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise.\u00a0 No copyright infringement is intended.<\/em><\/p>\n

My Story Index<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s the end. The end of everything–or is it?<\/p>\n

No KAOS in this story. Honestly! <\/p>\n

700 words, rated K<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":3026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,8],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-2951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-short-stories","tag-adam-cartwright","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-8-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":2501,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/The-Gift-of-Water-4.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2929,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=2929","url_meta":{"origin":2951,"position":0},"title":"No Coffee (by frasrgrl)","author":"frasrgrl","date":"April 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 \u00a0The Cartwrights are out on the trail. Rated: K\u00a0 (700 words)","rel":"","context":"In "Chaps and Spurs"","block_context":{"text":"Chaps and Spurs","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=39"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/cutthroat-junction.jpg?fit=301%2C303&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2979,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=2979","url_meta":{"origin":2951,"position":1},"title":"Captain Joe (by frasrgrl)","author":"frasrgrl","date":"November 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 \u00a0This story is in response to November's Chaps and Spurs Challenge. Joe on the high seas.\u00a0 Word Count: 546\u00a0\u00a0Rated: K","rel":"","context":"In "Chaps and Spurs"","block_context":{"text":"Chaps and Spurs","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=39"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ponderosa-lj.jpg?fit=640%2C475&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ponderosa-lj.jpg?fit=640%2C475&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ponderosa-lj.jpg?fit=640%2C475&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6475,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=6475","url_meta":{"origin":2951,"position":2},"title":"A Circle of Family: The Book of Joseph (by MissJudy)","author":"missjudy","date":"May 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0Days\u00a0before Adam is scheduled to leave for college, Little Joe \"borrows\" his older brother's Bible and leaves it outside in the rain when his attention is drawn elsewhere. The Bible had belonged to Elizabeth and was one of the few tokens Adam had of his mother.\u00a0We watch as he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/coming-soon-5.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7580,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7580","url_meta":{"origin":2951,"position":3},"title":"The Wheelchair (by DJK)","author":"DJK","date":"May 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0Years later Adam\u2019s wheelchair from \u201cThe Triangle\u201d comes out of the attic. Rated:\u00a0K+\u00a0 Word count:\u00a0667 The Wheelchair Series, links to stories within the series are included.","rel":"","context":"In "Adam Cartwright"","block_context":{"text":"Adam Cartwright","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=1005"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Bird.jpg?fit=323%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7320,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7320","url_meta":{"origin":2951,"position":4},"title":"The Stagecoach Robbery (by Sibylle)","author":"Sibylle","date":"May 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0Adam wonders what his brothers are doing downstairs in the big room .... Rated:\u00a0K+\u00a0 (595 words) Adam Vignette Series, links to all the stories within the series included.","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=1008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15735,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=15735","url_meta":{"origin":2951,"position":5},"title":"Christmas Time (by Indiana)","author":"indiana","date":"December 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This story was written for the 2017 Advent Calendar - Day 21 Summary:\u00a0 Tears of disappointment turn into a lesson of compassion for a brother. 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