I ate the last bit of Easter candy today – a Cadbury creme egg, if you’re interested in specifics.
It’s a funny thing about last bits. You savor them just a little bit more. That Cadbury egg was no better than the one before, but you look in the fridge and sigh, with both sadness and relief in this particular case, and realize that this is the last bit of chocolate in the house. Like the last sip of tea in the mug or those last sweet minutes in bed before you haul yourself up and start another day. You cling to them just a little bit longer.
We love and hate a good ending, all at the same time.
It’s like reaching the end of a ball of fine yarn, or the last bite of fettucini alfredo. The last sunset on the last day of vacation.
And tonight, I slid the last disc of the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer into my laptop. The end draws nigh.
I’ve chewed through seven seasons of Buffy in something less than five months. (Plus nearly four seasons of Angel, but whose counting?) I think if I worked out how many hours I’ve spent plugged into this particular visual media type in those last months, I would be appalled to the point of nausea. So I just won’t.
What can I say for myself? I don’t have to say anything. I’m a sucker for a good story and at the end of a long day, it’s nice to key into some folks who have bigger problems than I do. You know, like the apocalypse... again.
What shall I do with myself now? you ask. What will fill this void in my heart and in my optical drive? What could I possibly find to replace it? Don’t be silly. I’m going to buy the box set and go back and watch them all again, with the extras and the commentary.
So the last little disc awaits, mounted on my desktop. I’m almost hesitant to push play, to come to the end of such a long and splendid story line. You know... I could just let the disc sit there. I could leave Sunnydale in the greatest peril its ever faced, with Buffy and the scoobies out-numbered and out-gunned and the fate of the world hanging by the most delicate of gossamer threads. I could suspend time and savor it.
Nah. I’m dying to know what happens.