The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
In this alternative ending to The Great Gatsby, Gatsby's fate takes an unexpected turn as he confronts the hollowness of his dreams and discovers what truly matters.
Jay Gatsby stood at the edge of his pool, but instead of entering the water, he turned back toward the house. Something had changed. Perhaps it was the phone call he'd been waiting for that never came, or perhaps it was simply the accumulation of lonely parties and empty victories.
He thought of Daisy, of course. He always thought of Daisy. But for the first time in five years, he allowed himself to question whether the woman he loved was real or merely a green light he'd been chasing across the bay.
"Old sport," he said aloud to himself, using the phrase that had become his armor, "perhaps it's time to wake up."
The shot never came. Wilson, finding comfort in his friend Michaelis, chose a different path than violence. Gatsby, instead of meeting a tragic end, faced something perhaps more difficult: the necessity of building a real life rather than chasing an impossible dream.
As summer faded into fall, Gatsby sold the mansion and the parties stopped. Nick received a postcard months later from California. It simply read: "Finally awake. Finally free. -JG"
And so we beat on, boats against the current, but sometimes - just sometimes - we find a new shore.
