epilogue

You know when you know what a word means but are sometimes at a loss to explain it? Well that was the case with 'Epilogue' and I today.

The online dictionary I just checked says that it's the concluding part added to a literary work, but it also says that it's a speech delivered by one of the actors after the conclusion of a play. Now, those seem to be slightly different things; a conclusion in a novel, but another piece after the conclusion of a play. Perhaps it's possible that it is both.

Either way, I've been considering an epilogue for John Mann - At Day's End. Now obviously if I include one it would have to serve a solid purpose like finish the story, add depth or colour, or look to a new beginning. I actually visualised an epilogue right back at the beginning of the writing of this story but then lost enthusiasm for the idea. And then recently I went out on a day trip and saw a telegraph pole with some coding carved into it (see picture below) and the idea caught fire again. It is definitely back on the agenda for the moment but it remains to be seen whether it makes it into the final cut.

Photo is the author's own.