A Grave Kiss

A Story by JLD

Day 2 of the 30 day writing challenge. Include a gravestone, a first kiss, and a butterfly collection in a short story

What am I doing here Christy thought to herself. She was intriqued when Ben had asked her to meet him in the graveyard at midnight on Halloween. It was dark and mysterious. Ben was exciting. She had a crush on him since the third grade. Christy had always enjoyed a good spooky story by a campfire, or on Halloween. Now she was part of the story, hopefully with a little romance thrown in. The graveyard was silent and oddly peaceful tonight. Christy wandered around slowly, taking it all in. There was a full moon, and lots of bare, black spindly trees all around. A weak chilly breeze rustled the leaves on the ground around the cold, dead gravestones. Far off, she heard a high pitched laugh and felt lonely. Where was Ben?

She decided to wait beside a large tree and check out a huge gravestone carved with an intricate pattern of vines and flowers. It looked older than the others. Christy got up close and read the inscription: "Helena Montague, loving wife and mother, born October 31, 1887, died October 31 1910". "Wow, she was exactly 23," Christy marveled. "I wonder what happened to her....." . "She died in giving birth to my great-great grandfather," Ben interjected. Christy jumped. "There you are," she exclaimed, surprised and delighted. "This is your great-great-great grandmother's gravestone?" "Yes," replied Ben. "I come here every Halloween. I never met her of course, but I have heard a lot about her. I like passing her story on. Check this out." Ben pulled something from his pocket. It looked like an old book, maybe a journal. "She had this really cool hobby. She collected butterflies. They only live a short time. She thought it was sad. So she preseved them. And here we are, talking about them all these years later. Her life was short, too. I guess in a way, she was a lot like the butterflies she collected." Christy loved the butterfly collection in the journal. It was beautiful! Christy loved hearing stories from the past. It all hit her at once, and the shy girl decided to be brave and take a chance. She leaned forward, tilted her head slightly, and went in for a kiss. That was the first of many kisses Ben and Christy enjoyed, on Halloween, in the graveyard.