epilogue

after all is said and done, i.e. when all loose ends are tied up, the story must end, unless of course, the end of the story is used as the seed of a sequel, teasing the reader to jump into a completely new story, where only the characters and the lessons learned are the same.

if these rules are not met, the author may risk babbling into pointless directions, leaving the reader with a sensation of frustration and wasted time, and what could have been a great story gets a very bitter taste ...

[...but then again, that may be exactly what the author intended in the first place.]