Graveyard Diamond

Two teens deal with buried grief in Halloween.

Mary smiled when they came down stairs after spending about 3 days locked in their room. They wore a plain black t-shirt and jeans with their black hair slid back with some gel, it made them look so gothic, but she was just happy that they cleaned themselves up and were going out that night.

It was hard to tell them apart when they wore the same clothes, but she did her best to remember who had slightly longer hair.

“Have fun at the party! But please take care and don’t get back too late, alright?” she told them, unable to hide her worry from her face.

They didn’t even look back as they went out the door, Lucas vaguely waiving a hand above his shoulder. As the door closed behind them silently, they both sighed. They didn’t like lying, especially after Mary had been like an angel to them, but they knew she wouldn’t have agreed to let them do this if they told her.

“Are you sure about this?” Remy asked.

“Absolutely not.”

Looking at each other for reassurance, they started down the four stair steps and walked two corners away from their new home - 'home', that still didn’t sound right - and met the young man who agreed to get them booze; one bottle of vodka and another one of rum, the best he could get his hands on. They paid without thinking about it twice and continued their walk.

The streets were so busy with trick or treaters that Remy had to stare directly at the floor to feel a bit of calmness. Lucas, in the other hand, smiled at all the kids that where happily skipping from one house to the other asking for candy with their cute faces hidden under a scary mask.

Where had time gone? A few weeks ago, they felt so grown up that they no longer wanted their parents involved so much in their lives; and today they felt like little kids that just wanted to cuddle up with them.

They weren’t even there yet, and already they had to hold back tears. They wouldn’t cry, no. They promised each other, they were stronger than that.

As they neared their destination, the streets grew calmer, less and less kids dared come near the place, or even a few streets away from it. What were they scared of? Lucas tried to remember, he was scared too years ago, but he couldn’t remember what of. It didn’t matter anyway.

The cemetery was just a few meters ahead. A few street lamps lighted the entrance, but inside only the moon shined. The gate was locked, but they knew the wall from the adjacent street wasn’t guarded.

Lucas linked his hand for Remy to step on them, then he grabbed the top of the wall and pulled himself up. He helped his twin up and they both brace themselves for the high jump to the other side. They landed on their feet, knees and hands, then rolled to their back. They blinked a few times and stayed motionless, nothing hurt out of the ordinary. Good. And the bottles, wrapped in old newspapers, were also intact.

They walked for a few minutes, watching all the graves on their path. The silence bothered them both, but they had nothing to talk about. It was curious how they could talk for hours without running out of things to say, but this was the one place where they just kept their thoughts to themselves.

Linda and Martin Walker. They stood in front of their parents’ graves, staring at them for an eternity. Lucas snapped out of it first and opened the bottle of vodka, taking a big gulp. He spit out most of it.

“This is crap!” he complained, coughing. “Ugh. Is that any better?”

Remy took a sip of rum and wrinkled all of his face; he didn’t need to give a verbal answer.

“And this was supposed to be the best, uh?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll pass.” Remy put the cap back on the bottle and set it down on the yard. “Dad would be laughing so hard at us right now.” He didn’t bother to hide a faint grin.

“And mom would scold us for like 20 minutes.” Lucas’ face unmoved.

Remy fought hard not to sob like a little kid.

You two will be the men of the house one day and you’ll have to learn to take things like men, so toughen up! He remembered his dad say over and over again.  

The sound of metal clashing startled them; they looked over at the gate through the side of a tree and noticed three little boys, maybe nine years old, looking inside the graveyard from the other side of the gate. They were shivering even though it wasn’t even cold. Poor kids, they were probably dared.

They went back to the graves and sat in front of them, thinking funny stories about them, but keeping them to themselves.

16. What a time to lose both parents. They had almost perfect lives without knowing it. They regretted not appreciating them enough, saying no whenever they wanted family time because they thought they were too old for that, being rude, just acting like teenagers that thought they were much more mature than they actually were. They felt so stupid. They both knew that if either one talked about it, they’d break down crying, so they kept watching the grave stones in silence under the light of an almost full moon.

The sound of a few trees dancing with heavy air waves calmed them and made them think of the many times they went hiking with their mom, who loved nature in all shapes and forms.

One of the bushes moved a little too much, Remy watched it for a couple of seconds until he noticed a four-legged creature coming out of it. The dog caught Lucas off guard and he almost screamed; taking a hand to his chest and breathing deeply, he calmed down.

The dog was probably supposed to be white, but he was dirty and his short fur became brownish, except for a few black spots. They couldn’t tell what breed he was, probably mixed. His ears hanged down in the cutest way.

“What’s a stray doing in a graveyard?” Lucas stared at the dog sitting right in the middle of the two graves.

“Vising someone, maybe?”

“Oh, please.” Lucas shook his head.

The dog set off running towards their right, where many other graves laid. They watched him stop and sit to watch them again.

“Okay, that’s not creepy at all.”

“Maybe he wants us to follow it.” Remy stood up and stretched, his body ached a bit after the fall. He took slow short steps towards the dog.

“Seriously man? Cause following a wild dog in a graveyard at night is perfectly sane, right?”

Remy stopped for a second, then turned around. “Alright, tell me what’s the worst that can happen. Cause after what we just went through, I can’t imagine a lot of things worse than that.”

Lucas sat there, legs crossed, eyes fixed on the dog.

“You do have a point, I guess.” He stood and they both follow the dog with short steps.

The closer they got, the further the dog ran. They must have almost walked to the other end of the cemetery, which wasn’t too big. It was darker there, too many tall trees blocking the moonlight; if they turned on their phones’ flashlight, that would give them away to whoever was guarding the cemetery, if anyone.

They had to squint their eyes to see until their eyesight eventually adjusted to the dim light. The dog laid belly-down on the grave. Mark Miller, 1912-2020.

“Damn, he was old.” Lucas said.

The dog started whining in between short breathes like he had asthma.

“I think maybe he was the dog’s owner.”

Lucas sighed.

“Hey buddy, it’s alright.” Remy kneeled down to pet the dog, who didn’t have a collar to know him name or anything about him.

“You shouldn’t touch it, just look at its fur!”

After a couple seconds, Remy was sobbing too.

“Come on, we promised to be strong.”

“Do you have any idea how lucky we were? And even now how lucky we are?” Remy said, barely understandable. “Sure, our world flipped upside down, but we have our aunt who loves us to death, and a roof over our heads, and all the essentials that we’ve always taken for granted.”

Lucas watched him sob and pet the whining dog. He no longer cared for holding back the tears, what did it matter anyway? Can’t people be strong and cry at the same time? Besides, he wasn’t crying. His eyes just watered a little, that’s all.

“All this dog had was an old man in his last days, and now he’s gone, and look at him. He probably won’t last long all alone out here.”

Lucas wiped his cheeks with the back of his hands and walked away towards his parents’ graves.

“Are you coming?” He looked back for a moment. “You can bring the dog if you want.”

“No, let him grief. He’ll find us again.” Remy cleared his face and did his best to stop the sobbing.

They spent the rest of the night sitting with their backs against the gravestones until they eventually fell asleep. The dim light of dawn woke them up to the feral dog sleeping against Remy’s leg. He couldn’t help but smile. They would wait until the gates opened and guard walked off to walk through the front unnoticed. When they did, the dog followed.

“We should name him Diamond, because of how strong he is considering his circumstances.”

“You really think Mary will let us keep it?”

“She wants us to be strong like our father did, right?” Lucas nodded. “Well, this dirty little thing is strength itself, don’t you think?”

“Can’t disagree with that.”

“You know,” Remy looked up to the clear sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun. “Maybe it’s time to talk about it”.

Lucas pressed his lips and nodded.  

Reviews

[CRISHAM]

"This story beautifully captures the raw emotions of loss and resilience as Lucas and Remy navigate their grief in the graveyard. The bond they form with the stray dog adds a layer of hope and connection, highlighting the importance of companionship during tough times. The dialogue flows naturally, effectively conveying their struggle to cope with their circumstances while reminding us of the strength found in vulnerability. Overall, it’s a touching narrative that resonates deeply with the themes of love, loss, and the search for solace."