As a 19 year old when I read it, I was excited and very curious when I got to the end. But the original version drops off at verse 8 in chapter 16.
And I think that Mark intended to do so. Whenever Luke and Matthew disagree about a section of the narrative, Mark does not narrate. The Incarnation story and birth/Nativity is a good example. Since Matthew and Luke disagree beyond verses 1-8 (the finding of the tomb by the women empty), it stands to reason that verse 8 was the ending.
To me, this is the strongest proof, along with the fact that some major manuscripts are quiet past verse 8, and because in terms of literary analysis, verse 9 sounds like it is picking up a new narrative, with the way it introduces Mary.
So what does Mark think about the resurrection appearances? I think one really can draw some conclusions.
1. Mark is narrating directly about the empty tomb.
2. I think Mark implies that the youth in the tomb was an angel, but I think Mark's style is to write in a veiled way sometimes about divine aspects of the story, like about Jesus' divinity. So this explains for one reason why he just calls the angel a youth.
3. The angel/youth says that Jesus will meet the apostles in Galilee and that Jesus predicted a Galilean meeting. So we can conclude based on Jesus' prediction earlier in Mark that there really would be a Galilean appearance to the apostles. But it doesn't say when. For example, maybe the Galilean appearance happened after one in Jerusalem, which is not specified in Mark.
4. The angel says to tell Peter and the apostles. Here he especially names Peter. This suggests a special meeting with Peter, as mentioned by Paul in 1 Cor 15, which Paul listed as the first appearance - ie before the apostles.
5. The first appearance to the disciples must have come as a surprise. The gospels claim that the apostles did not yet understand the true meaning of rising from the dead or the scriptures on the topic until Jesus' appearances.(John 20:9) Further, Mark 16:1-8 ends with the women being too scared to tell anyone. The normal meaning of that is that "no one" was told, including of course the apostles, because they would be "someone". There is no mention in Mark, or for that matter in Matthew, about the women telling the apostles and bringing Peter to the tomb. It is notable that in John 21, it sounds like Peter and the others are not expecting Jesus to appear to them at the sea. And in Luke 24 and John 20 when Jesus appears, it comes as a surprise to the apostles.
6. You might be able to make some guesses about the appearance based on Mark 14. There it says:
I say this because the Bible has a literary or poetic style of contrasts, as well as a chiastic structure:27And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away, because it is written, 'I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.' 28"But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee." 29But Peter said to Him, "Even though all may fall away, yet I will not." 30And Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times." 31But Peter kept saying insistently, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And they all were saying the same thing also. 32They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed." 33And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 34And He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch."
- (A) Jesus talks about the sheep being scattered, then being raised and going to Galilee.
- (B) Then Peter denies he will leave, and then the others deny it.
- (C) Then they go to Gethsemene, Jesus says to sit until he prays.
The fulfillment would be that:
(A) The apostles dispersed because of the arrest of Jesus, then Jesus was raised and went to Galilee.
Then what?
(B) In John 21, Peter does make things up with Jesus. Just as he had denied Jesus three times, in John 21, peter affirms his love for Jesus thrice. This seems to be a structural parallel for fulfillment of the narration back in Mar 14.
(C) Then the apostles go to some place, and perhaps Jesus and the apostles are there and there is waiting by the apostles and then prayer/communication by Jesus. This would also be a post- resurrection narrative that correlates with the narration of Mark 14. It sounds a bit like it could match Matthew 28's events, where the apostles go to a location in Galilee and Jesus meets them.
7. You can guess that the place in Galilee with the appearances would be a mountain, the one in Matthew 28. It is remarkable that the mention in Mark 14 of taking Peter, James, and John in Gethsemane where he says his soul is troubled to death brings to mind Jesus bringing those three up the mount for Transfiguration elsewhere in the gospels. The Transfiguration could be seen as a prefigurement of the resurrection. And since the Transfiguration was on a mount, perhaps the place in Mark could be on a mount too. Besides, in both Luke and Matthew, Jesus ascends or appears on some mountain, so the same could be guessed about Mark's expectations. In Mark 14, the apostles go to Gethsemane, which is at the foot of the Mount of Olives. So if we see Mark 14 as a prefigurement of the appearance to the apostles, then this is another reference to a mountain.
8. You may guess based on Point #6 above that the appearance to Peter was by the sea and resembled John 21, and that the appearance to the apostles was the one in Matthew 28.
The 3 women at the tomb and the youth.
Christ’s Appearance on the Mountain: Duccio Di Buoninsegna, 14th century