Rebel's Tag by K. L. Denman Page A

this is just the way it had to be. Like destiny.”
    â€œWow.” She looks at me like she’s never seen me before. Slowly, she adds, “You’re way ahead of me, Sam Connor.”
    â€œYeah?” I know what she means. But I don’t want to talk anymore, so I come up with a feeble joke. “That’s because I run faster.”
    â€œSam. You know...never mind. Let’s go home.”
    And for once in her life, Indi stays quiet. When we get off the bus she gives me a hug; then she puts Grandpa Max’s letter in my pocket. “We’ll talk later, okay?”
    I nod. “Thanks, Indi.”
    â€œHey, anytime.”
    Her words echo as I go inside and up to my room. Anytime. Anytime.
    There’s always a time limit.
    I think about Norman and Mary saying there’s not enough time to stay angry.
    There’s always a time limit.
    I think about Henry Chan saying, “It’s about time you showed up.”
    All those clocks ticking away the time.
    I open the letter. The writing looks different.
    Dear Samuel,
    A kind nurse is writing this for me. Hope you don’t mind. The medicine I’m taking makes me clumsy. The next thing I have to tell you is how sorry I am we never got to meet again. The cancer is moving fast now. I thought I had more
time. Someone my age ought to know better.
    All I can say now is I hope you get to be wiser than I ever was. When you were a wee boy, you were so much like me. Stubborn. Sensitive. Curious. A bit of a rebel. I loved you for it. Seems like some qualities really are bred in the bone. Known by the heart of the tree? But like anything, those things have a good and bad side. The thing to do is build on your good traits. Do you think being stubborn is a bad thing? It sure can be, and I proved it. But the flip side of that is it also gives you the strength to endure. You see?
    I was slow in figuring that out. Being sensitive and stubborn, I held a grudge against life itself. It wasn’t a wise thing to do. I let you down, and myself too. I missed out on knowing you. The things I really wish I’d given you are love and time. My time. The cradle and the watch are poor substitutes, but it gives me some comfort that you have them.
    I don’t know if any of this makes sense.I’m sorry. Nurse says I’m doing fine, and I want to say one more thing. If you ever get a chance, please look at the planet Uranus.
    The Nurse is looking at me like I’m crazy. I never did get to see Uranus because it takes so long to make its orbit—eighty-four years. To tell you the truth, I don’t know why I’m curious about that planet. Eli Jones says all free spirits like Uranus and it puts its mark on some of us. I’d say the Uranus rebel mark means the need to find your own path, to not accept the ordinary. I wasn’t a free spirit, but I wish I had been. I was finally heading that way. Maybe now, when I move on?
    Well, dear boy, I’ll say farewell. Please know that you come from a cradle of love. Make time for all that’s important. Look up to the vast unknown, and dream.
    Love
    Grandpa Max

chapter fifteen
    There aren’t many of us gathered at the grave. My mom, Indi, Joe the cook, Henry Chan and Eli Jones. There is no minister. We stand in awkward silence, waiting.
    Waiting for what? It’s wrong to lay a body in the ground and not say anything. I feel this. I think all of us do. Everyone shifts from one foot to the other. We keep our eyes down. A couple of guys in work clothes stand behind us. Finally they comeforward and begin shoveling dirt. It goes over the coffin, covers it, starts filling the hole. We keep waiting.
    For what?
    At last one of the workers speaks. “We can show you the headstone now. It’s ready.”
    We nod.
    And they bring the stone. It doesn’t stand upright, like I expected. Instead, it’s flat. We all lean forward to read the words written there.
    Maximilian Connor
    To be