WARNING! This post contains MASSIVE SPOILERS for The Long and Dark. It assumes you have finished the book. Read on at your own risk.
You have been warned. The warned one is you.
During the writing process, I lay out the entire story’s plot in an outline from start to end. Even high-level, this gives me a concrete idea of how the narrative starts and ends. While there is some latitude or wiggle room for changes, like where sequences can be adjusted for better pacing, most of the time there is a clear and obvious arc already set in stone.
For The Long and Dark, though, the quest allowed for a number of variable exits from the narrative, many of which never got past the "thinking about" stage. While only one made it into the final published book, a second was written and there were multiple bandied about in the planning and editing stages.
As you recall, Gareth makes his deal with the Begeondan to send him back in time with the hope that he might save his family before they become infected by the plague. In the published ending, Gareth wakes up back at home to find his wife and daughter aren’t yet sick. The story ends with Gareth asking his daughter about going on a trip, implying that he intends to flee to the countryside.
Alternate Ending
The only other ending to actually be written was the one below (the embedded PDF). In this, Gareth arrives home only to find he's been returned to a point in history that's still too late for him to save his family. This one was tossed out because while it has a Twilight Zone-style twist, it’s kind of a "screw you" to the reader. On top of that, its a half-measure that doesn't really push the development hard enough.
Or download the PDF.
Other Endings
Alharrad kills Gareth. One of the earliest alternate ideas was that when Gareth and Alharrad reach the Coemeterium, Alharrad succeeds in killing him for his akaluma’elusepsu. Once he has Gareth's power, he meets the Begeondan, only to discover that all he wanted was the power itself. This idea, while a fun little twist, got tossed out early. There was no way a story focused solely on Gareth was going to change the point of view 90% of the way through the story.
Gareth goes back to Dineothan. After being sent back, Gareth finds that he's too late and his family is still sick. He decides that, knowing where Dineothan is and how akaluma’elusepsu works, he can go back and gather more power quickly. I kicked this one around for a while with the thought that I might bring Gareth into a future title set on the island.
Gareth returns too late and stays. Still guilty over leaving his family to die, Gareth chooses to stay this time. Just another variation of the Alternative Ending.
