My last

The tale is over; I cannot lie any more.
-- A narrative ending to many Russian tales

Wilde end

"For the future let those who come to play with me have no hearts," she cried, and she ran out into the garden.
-- Oscar Wilde, The Birthday of the Infanta (published in the 1892 collection titled "A House of Pomegranates")

The opening line has to arrest the reader, seduce him enough to continue reading. By the time the reader is at the ending sentence, however, the author already has the reader hooked.
The ending sentence, when viewed on its own and outside its context, will often sound ordinary. In its context, however, the same sentence will enchant, dazzle, mesmerize, exhaust, break you. In fact, I encountered but few sentences that make an impression on their own. They will then themselves appear as tiny tales:
Is it possible for anyone in Germany, nowadays, to raise his right hand, for whatever the reason, and not be flooded by the memory of a dream to end all dreams? - Walter Abish, How German Is It? (1980)
While the opening sentence is at best love at first sight, the ending sentence (or, indeed, the ending paragraph or the ending chapter) can be a very emotional experience. Many readings are lovely one-night stands, but a few can be a lasting love, a break-up, a breakdown; any of these, and more.
It is not until the end that the wretched words will let you know whether you are headed for one or the other.

Sneewittchen

My story's done. See a mouse run. And whoever catches it can make a great big furry hood from it.
-- Can you guess which is the fairy tale that ends like this?
As for the happy end in yesterday's post, I took it from the Grimms' recording of Snow White. In the last paragraphs, the wicked stepmother - still completely in the dark about Snow White's resurrection - is getting dressed for the splendid wedding taking place in the neighbouring kingdom. Further to her (daily) request for confirmation, the mirror this time reveals that the young queen-to-be from the neighbouring kingdom is "a thousand times more fair". Arrested by fear, yet enviously curious, the wicked stepmother travels to attend the wedding and to see the one, the thousand times more fair one, for the first time. The rest, as they say, is history.
"When she entered, Snow White recognized her right away. The queen was so terrified that she just stood there and couldn't budge an inch. Iron slippers had already been heated up for her over a fire of coals. They were brought in with tongs and set up right in front of her. She had to put on the red-hot iron shoes and dance in them until she dropped to the ground dead."
Someone invited the wicked stepmother and ordered the hot iron slippers to be ready.
And meanwhile, amidst the red and the hot and the dancing, Snow White held court while referring to her mirror.