The Rock

Epilogue

Hawkins felt terribly disoriented for a few seconds. His hands twitched on the steering wheel and the pickup almost swerved off the road.

"Watch it, hon!" Mary exclaimed, her hand squeezing his arm.

Hawkins slammed on the brakes and pulled off the road onto the shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked, looking at him with concern.

Hawkins steadied himself against the back of the seat as he looked at his wife, alive and vibrant in the bright sunshine streaming through the windshield.

"Are you all right?"

Hawkins nodded. "I'm fine. Just fine." He fought back the confusion and forced a smile. "What's today's date?"

"Twenty-second June."

"What year?"

Mary playfully punched her husband on the shoulder. "Oh, come on, now. What are you trying to pull?"

"Please, Mary, just tell me the year?"

The smile faded from Mary's lips as she saw tears forming in her husband's eyes. "Nineteen ninety-one."

He turned off the engine and grabbed her with both arms, squeezing her tight to him. "Tell you what. Why don't we just sit here?" He wrapped her up tightly and waited, letting the minutes tick by until he knew it was safe and that the future was now much different.

The world dissolved around Debra, as if everything were going through a portal and she were the lone point of stability. There was a flash of white and then, in a dizzying array of colors, everything came back into focus-except it wasn't what had been.

Ayers Rock loomed in the near distance, intact and spectacular in the early afternoon sun. The desert that had surrounded the monolith in her time was replaced by rolling green plains.

She was standing in the center of a large circle, carpeted in some sort of soft red fabric. A waist-high railing surrounded the circle and there were people gathered all around. As soon as they saw her, a tall, strong-looking man strode forward, his arms outstretched. "Welcome, Debra. I am Raynor Batson Volkers and I welcome you to your time." He pointed at a skimmer, parked at the side of the circle. "My parents are waiting to talk to you."