@neverlearned : the last time sarah saw her dad, she was 14. they’d been separated and sarah had gotten lost. now, she was twenty-five and in boston. she can barely believe her eyes when she lays eyes on him. “d-dad?” she’s able to stammer out, hands shaking.
it was a long shot, by far. joel had seen many girls reminding him of sarah over the years & had always reminded himself that it was impossible because his daughter, his world - his everything, had died in the night of the outbreak. there was no way she could've survived, no way he could've saved her, no matter how hard he tried. yet he saw her in the crowd sometimes, at least .. kind of. he saw an older version, he saw everything he knew sarah could've been if she'd had the chance she deserved. when he realized that it would never happen, the pain usually came back tenfold.
but never before did his imagination speak with him. his initial reaction, silence. all it took was that one little word to crumble that wall within him. she looked so different now, but he could see his little baby girl in her regardless. "sarah? how's that possible? you're s'pposed to be dead.." he could feel his body tremble& his heart rejoice. he was hugging her to his chest before she could respond, so happy, so relieved, so... confused.
