Epilogue
                                    20 Years Later

Now, where was little Pearl? The one borne from sinful acts, from Hester Prynne, the woman with that feared scarlet letter A upon her bosom? The wild and unruly child, had been left in the Old World to become a happy woman, for she wed a devoted religious man, of reasonable money, as to support herself. Perhaps this will tame her wild nature and restore the great law which had been broken just from her very existence. The brilliant and luxurious child, at once a treasure of Hester Prynne’s, hadst now become subdued and passive, traits expected from her husband and one of her children, as the other child was quite rebellious, shining like a ray of sunshine through her richly sewn garments in worlds of color and depth. Her radiance and color were unmatched, similar to the once youthful Pearl God praised from the high heavens, much to the point that the crowd of men dressed in gray garments had perhaps become envious- or enraged- with her seeming willingness to defy them, defying God. The seeming obedient woman, who lived in a modest house that reflected the common likeness of society, were lined with rose bushes at the front, cut and trimmed to look appealing to the eye; and possessed the same darkened quality that plagued the Puritan community, much to the dismay of God. Those rose bushes, grey and melancholy, never could leave their place, they simply remained firmly implanted until they died out, as new ones would replace them. After all, who could help those rose bushes? Who could help those dimmed spirits, their colors and their radiance, ones whom simply hadst not found their place in the commonness of a grey world? And Pearl! Hadst Pearl become what her mother prayed her to become? As Pearl sat by the fireplace, writing in her journal, she dropped her pen and book to observe the forest outside, wrestling with the tension within as she so much desired her own liberty yet hadst not considered those dark and lifeless nights. The sky above was still partially visible, it resembled a dark blue with a few highlights of white, while a series of black clouds moved slowly towards the house, covering the shining stars by the masses. The shadowed trees moved with the wind, with twigs and branches making a sharp snap when the wind blew with more force, while the soil from the ground created a small swirl, before returning to the ground. A few specks of dust and soil smacked the glass window, ever so slightly blurring vision for Pearl. She continued to write as the silence surrounding her encouraged, despite the echoes and the bell of the clock, chiming like the town bell to disrupt the freedom of thought that Pearl hadst gained, then almost lost. She began to hear footsteps, muddy shoes clamping the wooden floor with such speed and force that Pearl turned to see who had caused the commotion.
“Pearl!” shouted her husband, a man dressed in clean pants and jacket, with an aura of certainty, yet also despair, as he slammed the doors back against the wall, creating a mark. Pearl immediately put down her journal and stood up to address her husband.
“Pearl, the town has been getting angry with your disregard for morality! I know thou hast been leaving the house, why, you disrupt the very social balance that weaves us together and closer to God. I believe you are becoming your mother, that Hester Prynne, the woman who bears the scarlet letter A upon her bosom!” her husband exclaimed. He walked over to sit with the children, who stared in awe at their father’s sudden burst of energy, they hadst always known their father as one of control, of restraint, to please God and the religious community, while also to please his dimmed child, who wearing a drab, grey dress that covered her radiance from her chest down to her toes. A devoted child, she believed the same as her father and any God- fearing religion would, to live a godly, righteous life free from sin and other plagues.
Eve, on the other hand, who was holding a pink flower, ever so alive, and had tore her dress so her body radiated through the fibre’s, revealing her similar to that of Hester Prynne. God himself, upon his throne of gold in heaven, with angels at his side, would sing of her beauty and radiance.
“Pearl, evil is the nature of mankind. You must understand, we are people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide by no such wickedness.” He again paused to examine the faces of disbelief and with a certain realization that perhaps he has broken from God and revealed his own obsession with sin and evil. “Why can thou not follow rules? Why? God favours people who do not engage in self indulgent behaviour!”
Dead silent, practically lifeless, Pearl tore a page from her journal and tossed it into the fire. Hath she been completely subdued now? Could she ever find her infinite freedom, amidst the wash of infinite purity the God- fearing people tried their highest to achieve? That fire which Pearl stood in front of, it burned so brilliantly with passion, yet so much with agony as it would never leave the fireplace; she watched the precious paper curl up and dissolve into thousands of tiny black ashes. The wind howled from outside, knocking the window and causing a stir amongst the leaves.
“Mother”, started the child with the gray dress, “Why do you leave the house? You are not pleasing God! He hath come and spoken to me whilst I sleep. He said your existence itself is a wrongdoing and is evil, and thou shalt never go to heaven if you do not pray for mercy.”
“Daughter! How could you say that?! God did not visit you in your sleep, and I believe nothing of this dream you speak of.” She paused and made her way across the room. “Dear, we shall sleep now. Nearly the entire town is asleep, and the children are tired.” They began to walk upstairs, letting their feet glide on the wood simultaneously, as the dark walls began to creep in, building a sense of fear as it seemed the walls were closing in. They were right to fear, however, because that fire, burning bright and sizzling over the wooden logs, had now been released from its stone placement! It spread throughout the floor, it travelled up the curtains, and burned the furniture; that brilliant fire hadst burned everything in its path, for pretty soon that room turned to ash, similar to Pearl’s charred journal paper, only the fire burned with a passion of a thousand journal entries. It travelled outside the room, throughout the long and echoey halls, eventually making its way upstairs. Practically encircled on the bed frame, Eve was the first to wake and call attention to the devastation. Whilst in a state of panic, she quickly tried to wake her family; although Pearl did not wake! No matter how loud the sound, how bright the fire, perhaps her dreams were her only solace, her conversations with God, or another eternal being. Eve, her father, and the child with a grey dress, who, under her concealment and unfailing devotion to God, was filled with melancholy and remorse. God hadst spoken His divine opinion, and Pearl’s lifetime in this world hadst come to a close.
“Eve, there is nothing we can do. God, maybe the Devil , has spoken. We are bound by God and we are bound by fate.”
As they came outside, faces burned and bearing the smell of ash, they watched with mournful eyes, desolate and piercing, yet, for Eve, astonished and shocked that God had sentenced Pearl to this horrific fate. Sparks of orange flame flew and landed on the grass, burning out on the ground. The townspeople woke with the sound of the fire and commotion, gathering outside the house to witness what had disrupted the course of their slumber, and many stopped to remark about what Eve was wearing, much to the embarrassment of her father. The house had practically burned down, the wood had turned black and were snapping from their supporting planks. As Pearl’s body was later discovered amongst the ash of the house, a glimpse of moonlight was visible above amidst the swarm of grey clouds, the vivid light illuminated from God, possibly to signify a peace made with his great law, as the being borne from sin is pulled from existence.
Pearl’s husband went over to the crumbling remains of his house, what he worked so hard to obtain! As he was looking through the books and objects that were stained with that dreaded black colour, he found the Journal, the one in which Pearl had been writing her thoughts, messages, maybe even the words of God himself! Oh, the agony! He closely analyzed each page, observing the words, messages, and the feeling of the toned paper. “His hidden meaning lies in our endeavors; Our valors are our best gods” He read out loud, as the town pondered over the meaning of such a statement. They looked bewildered, after all, the townspeople had known Pearl as one borne from sin, from evil, and this entry looked to justify her actions.
In the midst of bewilderment, despair, and wonder, Eve walked to the house and saw the cold, lifeless body of Pearl with her own eyes. Could God have really wanted Pearl to leave this world? After all, she so desperately craved for freedom, and, as Eve thought, has gone to heaven, a world of color and amazement, devoid of the conformist society she had entered. Her very existence had baffled humankind, and her willingness to change, to venture into the unknown part of human nature, the one so feared and despised by commoners, was something new and perhaps invigorating.
“How could Pearl write about such acts? God would be displeased with her and everything she has done. Why did you take the journal from me?” He said, a tension brewing inside his mind that wanted so much to mourn her death, yet knew it was a decision made by God.
“Father, life only avails, not the having lived. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”
The townspeople began to converse amongst themselves, wondering how a child could be so arrogant. Pearl was dead, her husband and children having lived, they began to walk away from the town in search of a new life, a new kind of freedom.