A rose in the cemetery....

You never know what you might walk upon when you are visiting an old cemetery.....take the short walk here and see for yourself.

‘A Rose in the cemetery’

 

 

                A ‘short’ by Stanley Swan

 

There was nothing Bill Clawson loved more than to grab

his 35 mm on his time off and head to the outdoors. There

was such a plethora of scenes, people and animals to frame

in his old Konica…. and today he thought would be no

exception.

 

Living in the Fingerlakes of New York, Bill’s favorite spots

were old cemeteries. Walking among the weathered markers,

he loved pausing to read the inscriptions, and photographing an

occasional crow sitting on a headstone.  

 

It was just after eight a.m. when Bill pulled into his favorite

spot. It was Hendricks cemetery, a place that had been the

final resting spot for scores of people who had passed on

since the mid 1800’s and some since.  Climbing out of his

’87 Jeep, Bill grabbed his camera and headed up the dirt

 road which led to the main entrance. There was no entrance

 sign, or gate of any kind…..just a lonely hard- pack dirt road that

beckoned those to ‘come on in’ and rest a spell.

 

The snow which had started to fall overnight had accumulated

several inches, and was still coming down at a pretty good

pace as Bill made his way up the road, pausing just a few

moments to scan the entire scene in front of him.

 

Suddenly, Bill noticed that he was not alone. Ahead of him at

about fifty yards was a young gal, looking to be in her

early twenties. Long black hair descended to meet up with

a fur collared coat that was most appropriate for the snow

which continued to fall.  

 

As Bill raised his right hand to give a wave and say hello, the

girl turned suddenly and gingerly ran away from him, and

within ten paces had dashed to the left, being swallowed

up within the tens of grave markers which stood guard.

 

Bill thought it was odd he would see someone else at this

hour, at this place, unless she too might be a photographer

herself. He had not noticed any other tracks leading into

the cemetery and he proceeded up the road to where he

had seen her disappear.  When he reached the spot…..

he kept examining the ground… and finding no tracks

continued on and to the left.. the direction in which the

girl had fled. 

 

At about twenty yards out Bill noticed a cemetery bench

that itself was not unusual, but rather unique in it’s

appearance in this snow fall.  Examining the bench,

Bill saw it void of snow on much of it… looking like

someone had sat there and then departed a short

time ago.. and yet there were no tracks to substantiate

such an action.

 

Bill sat down and placed the camera next to him, pulling

his collar up against the snow which had now increased

in it’s intensity.

 

Reaching down, Bill re-tied one of his boot laces which had

come loose.. and as he sat up, his eyes scanned the marker

directly in front of the bench where he sat.

 

The stone read:     Rose Melinda Bellamy

                                9-5-65                 2-14-85

 

Bill was always moved when he read a stone that contained

the sad information about a young person passing away

at such an early age.

 

The more he looked at the stone, the more he realized that

today was indeed… February the 14^th…. this was the day

indeed that young Rose had passed away. Bill thought

how ironic….this Rose, passing away on Valentines day.

 

Bill picked  up his Konica and snapped a picture of the

stone and of the bench, then turned southward and

headed for his car.

 

Bill thought about the girl he had seen just a short time

ago.   Could it have been Rose herself? Bill had a shudder

move up his back and the hair on his arms tingled as he

thought about the brief encounter.

 

But it would soon become more puzzling for Bill.

 

As he returned to his car and approached the front

bumper, he looked at his windshield which now had

accumulated a new inch of snow.

 

 In the middle of the windshield, and in the new snow,

 someone had drawn a most perfect heart.

 

Well, it was Valentines day….

 

Bill’s eyes welled up, as he considered all the possibilities.

 

As he got in his car, Bill looked out at the cemetery and

said softly, “I will be back again soon Rose. You won’t

be forgotten.”

 

Bill reached for the heater…and turned it on full- high…

it would take more than a few minutes to extinguish

the chill which had now engulfed him fully.

 

Bill turned the car around and headed for home.

 

Reaching up to adjust the rear view mirror…. he

decided against the action. ‘Better not’ he thought

to himself. Would she be back in the road to see

him leave? He pushed down on the accelerator.   

 

Bill knew that he would eventually return to

Hendricks cemetery…but he would wait for warmer

weather…a time that would bring about maybe a

daffodil…and maybe even a Rose. 

Reviews

[Write Cat]

Such depth. It Reminds me of loss. Nevertheless it is a very strong story and it made me want to sit back and think of peacefulness.. So keep on writing!!!