The man sat sideways in the rocking chair, with long legs draped over one arm and a curly black head of hair resting against the other. A silk top hat covered most of his face, and a long, striped scarf enveloped his neck and upper body in folds of gray and black.

Dreadlilocks suddenly felt timid. So much time and effort had led her to this moment, and now it was here. She wasn’t sure what to do or say first…

Before she could decide, however, the Caramel Odsplut hopped off her shoulder and flew into the air.

It took the form of a hummingbird as it went, and zipped over to the man’s hand, which it began pecking in earnest.

“Ugh, please…” he muttered, shifting slightly. “Just let me die in peace…that’s all I want…”

Dreadli straightened her posture. “Um…Mr. Jack…?” she said.

“Yes…” he answered from underneath the hat.

“Well…you…you know why I’m here, don’t you??”

“Of course I know why you’re here; I wrote it.”

“You…wrote all the things I did until now…?”

“…Before you have an existential crisis, I didn’t write everything.” He finally sat up, letting his hat fall into his hands, and revealing a somber face half covered in dark curls. A single silver eye stared out at her from among them.

“…That’s not how it works,” he continued. “You made most of your own decisions; I just wrote key things to help the story along…the fact that you ended up at that castle after your family was unwrit, for instance.”

“You did that??” Dreadlilocks scratched her head. “So…when we “randomly” ended up right by the ocean that other time, did you—?”

“Yes, I wrote that, too. Mother tried to destroy you, so I used it to my advantage. And also to save some travel time…”

Dreadli couldn’t help but smile. “The whole time…even while we were blaming you, you were helping us…” she said.

“Oh, I didn’t care. In a way, you were right,” He slumped back in the chair and began to rock. “It’s entirely possible that if I’d just kept my mouth shut, the world might not be ending. So why not blame me…?”

“But…all you did was…well, Gin said that you told your mother you’d take care of her stories for her if anything happened. You were trying to make her feel better. That’s not a bad thing…”

“Good and bad is relative.”

“I…don’t understand…”

“You’re better off, then.” Jack stopped rocking and leaned forward. “So, you talked to Gin…?” he asked.

“Yes…didn’t you know about that already…?”

“Oh, no; to be honest, I quit working on your story after the Odsplut got you. I haven’t been following along at all since then…anyway, I guess that explains what this little guy is doing here.” He poked the Caramel Odsplut on his wrist, who poked him back.

“…I’m surprised she just let you take him,” he added. “She must have had high hopes for you...”

Dreadli looked at the floor. “…She did,” she said. “But the real reason she let me take him…was because she died.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. It was the first sign of emotion Dreadli had seen him express since she arrived.

He leaned back in his chair again, covering his mouth with one bony hand. “…Oh,” he said quietly.