Seven Years
Seven Years
[The first eight panels, used earlier in the comic 1141: Two Years , are faded out.]
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.] Randall's fiancée: Oh god.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.] IV pump: ... Beeep ... Beeep ... Beeep ...
[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.] Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!?
[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.] Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word. Randall's fiancée: But caaaancer. Randall: ...Ok, fine.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée (wearing a knit cap) are listening to a Cueball-like friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads and it obscures the friends talk. The text below, split in three is the only part there can be no doubt about:] Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mounta a and Randall and Randall's fiancée (thinking): "Next year"
[Randall and Randall's fiancée are getting married, with a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back.]
[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water. This is the last gray panel, with an additional label in normal black color.] Fwoosh Label: Two years
[Randall and Randall's wife (with her hair noticably longer) are walking through a forest.]
[Randall's wife is sitting down, not in the forest anymore.] Randall's wife: My toe hurts and I found a report of a case in which toe pain was an early sign of cancer spreading. Randall: Wait—didn’t you stub your toe yesterday? Randall's wife: Yes, but what if this is unrelated?
[Randall and his wife are going spelunking. The guide is gesturing deeper into the cave while Randall and his wife are climbing down.]
[Randall's wife stands on a rock above an alligator in a swamp, photographing the alligator.  Randall is on a balcony behind safety railings.] Randall: When they estimated your survival odds, I think they made some optimistic assumptions about your hobbies.
[Randall's wife sits on an examination bed, listening to a doctor holding a clipboard.] Doctor: This is probably nothing. Doctor: But given your history, we should do a full scan. Doctor: We'll call with the results in a few days.  Try not to worry about it until then!
[Randall and his wife stand above a deep pond full of fish and other objects.  Randall's wife is piloting a wired underwater camera with lights.]
[Randall and his wife are standing next to each other.  Randall's wife has shoulder-length hair covering most of her face.] Randall's wife: Hard to believe—six years ago, I was bald.  But today, after a long struggle, I finally look like the little girl from The Ring . Randall: That's, uhh... good? Randall's wife: Hissssss
[A line of six people, including Randall and his wife, stand and watch the solar eclipse.]
[The sky has been brightened.] Ponytail: Wow. Randall's wife: Yeah.
[Randall and his wife are walking together and holding hands.] Randall's wife: That was incredible. Randall's wife: When's the next one? Randall: In seven years. Randall: Wanna go see it?
[Still walking, Randall and his wife think together about a timeline.  Seven years have passed since 2010, represented with a solid line from the past to 2017; seven years in the future will be 2024, represented with a dotted line into the future and surrounded by three question marks.]
[The pair keeps walking.] Randall's wife:  Yeah. Randall's wife:  I'll do my best. Randall: It's a date!

Randall 's then girlfriend, now wife, was diagnosed with cancer in late 2010, a matter he has discussed in the comic multiple times before . Here, motivated by the seven-year period between the American solar eclipses of 2017 and 2024 , we see them reminiscing the seven years prior to the first eclipse, leaving an open question to what the next seven years will bring.
This comic is part of a series of comics and directly continues 1141: Two Years , which is shown as the first eight panels, slightly grayed out. It later continued in 2386: Ten Years .
It was released as a response to another cancer diagnosis, this is explained in the Header text , which, for this comic only , has replaced the standard xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The header for this comic, with the active link included, is:
Becky Beaton, sister of fellow cartoonist Kate Beaton, has also been diagnosed with cancer. You can support her treatment here .
Kate Beaton is the creator of the web comic Hark! A Vagrant . Although this comic is not one on Randall's list of Comics I enjoy , he is clearly much influenced by another cancer diagnosis among someone in his own creative field.
Explanations of the individual panels:
The title text is a continuation to panel 15 concerning the horror movie The Ring . Specifically, watching the videotape in The Ring is supposed to kill a person in seven days, but the title text instead says "seven years".
With all these thoughts in mind, there is no wonder that he wishes to participate in helping a colleague's cancer-stricken sister with the unique header text above this comic, as mentioned above.
[The first eight panels, used earlier in the comic 1141: Two Years , are faded out.]
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.] Randall's fiancée: Oh god.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.] IV pump: ... Beeep ... Beeep ... Beeep ...
[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]
[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.] Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!?
[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.] Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word. Randall's fiancée: But caaaancer. Randall: ...Ok, fine.
[Randall and Randall's fiancée (wearing a knit cap) are listening to a Cueball-like friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads and it obscures the friends talk. The text below, split in three is the only part there can be no doubt about:] Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mounta a and Randall and Randall's fiancée (thinking): "Next year"
[Randall and Randall's fiancée are getting married, with a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back.]
[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water. This is the last gray panel, with an additional label in normal black color.] Fwoosh Label: Two years
[Randall and Randall's wife (with her hair noticably longer) are walking through a forest.]
[Randall's wife is sitting down, not in the forest anymore.] Randall's wife: My toe hurts and I found a report of a case in which toe pain was an early sign of cancer spreading. Randall: Wait—didn’t you stub your toe yesterday? Randall's wife: Yes, but what if this is unrelated?
[Randall and his wife are going spelunking. The guide is gesturing deeper into the cave while Randall and his wife are climbing down.]
[Randall's wife stands on a rock above an alligator in a swamp, photographing the alligator.  Randall is on a balcony behind safety railings.] Randall: When they estimated your survival odds, I think they made some optimistic assumptions about your hobbies.
[Randall's wife sits on an examination bed, listening to a doctor holding a clipboard.] Doctor: This is probably nothing. Doctor: But given your history, we should do a full scan. Doctor: We'll call with the results in a few days.  Try not to worry about it until then!
[Randall and his wife stand above a deep pond full of fish and other objects.  Randall's wife is piloting a wired underwater camera with lights.]
[Randall and his wife are standing next to each other.  Randall's wife has shoulder-length hair covering most of her face.] Randall's wife: Hard to believe—six years ago, I was bald.  But today, after a long struggle, I finally look like the little girl from The Ring . Randall: That's, uhh... good? Randall's wife: Hissssss
[A line of six people, including Randall and his wife, stand and watch the solar eclipse.]
[The sky has been brightened.] Ponytail: Wow. Randall's wife: Yeah.
[Randall and his wife are walking together and holding hands.] Randall's wife: That was incredible. Randall's wife: When's the next one? Randall: In seven years. Randall: Wanna go see it?
[Still walking, Randall and his wife think together about a timeline.  Seven years have passed since 2010, represented with a solid line from the past to 2017; seven years in the future will be 2024, represented with a dotted line into the future and surrounded by three question marks.]
[The pair keeps walking.] Randall's wife:  Yeah. Randall's wife:  I'll do my best. Randall: It's a date!
