Happy endings are usually a contradiction in terms.

Prompt 244: Happy endings.

The essence of an ending is that something is done with. Kaput. Finis. As a result, the common mortal misconception that there can be a happy ending in a lifetime is almost absurdly misplaced.

There can be a happy ending to something that was awful to begin with. A happy ending to a struggle, for instance, or a war. A happy ending to a miserable childhood. A happy ending to an imprisonment. Perhaps even a happy ending to a bad relationship, if the participants can be mature about it (although most bad relationships are not noted for the maturity of the participants.)

But a happy ending to a life? Lives end in death. I know a fellow who thought death was his personal happy ending, but I continue to refuse to accept that. Death may be *acceptable*, but it is never *happy*. (At least not for the person who died. Some people deserve to have their graves danced on after they die.)

Given the choice between ending, and not ending, I generally think that *not* ending is the happier of the two.

Muse: Q
Fandom: Star Trek TNG