By the graveside, I discovered a child, a mere tot of perhaps one or two years. Standing tall before the tombstone, the tiny figure's hands pressed against the inscription on its mother's marker.
The night wind wove its eerie dance, winding through the lush foliage like a restless hand, producing a rustling sound that oscillated between near and far. I rubbed my hands together, pulling my coat tighter around me.
The child at the grave stood firm. A glance cast our way and then a turn of the head, fixing its gaze on a nearby thicket of grass, a giggle escaping its lips.
A child of mere infancy, abandoned amidst the night's chill upon this burial mound. Yet, even grown men would feel the mountain's cold sting, yet this child did not cry nor fuss.
It was far from normal.
Beside me, Aaron pulled me back a step.I broke free from his grasp, cautiously stepping toward the tombstone. I bent down, reaching out my arms in a comforting embrace, whispering, "Come, come here to me—"
The child released its grip on the tombstone's edge, still staring at the thicket.
A chilling gust swept over us again, and Aaron came up from behind, gripping me once more. "Melissa, you must listen—"
His words were cut short as the child stood at the grave's edge, clapping its hands with gleeful abandon, its voice a garbled chorus: "Giggle... hide... Mommy... hide..."
Hide? Was it a game of hide and seek?
The child kept its gaze fixed on the thicket, repeating the chant while clapping. The eerie sound of a child's laughter and clapping echoed through the mountains, sending shivers down my spine. I could sense Aaron trembling beside me.
But I wasn't afraid. No matter how peculiar, he was, after all, just a child. And as long as he was a child, I would love him.
"Mommy... Mommy... hide..."
A rustling emerged from the thicket, an unsettling sound of something about to emerge.
I took a few steps forward, lowering myself to the child's level, my arms outstretched, offering a gentle, soothing invitation, "Come, little one, come to Mommy—"
"Melissa!" Aaron's suppressed roar pierced the air.
Ignoring him, I kept my eyes fixed on the child. Finally, it swayed towards me, stumbling into my open arms, crying out, "Mommy!"
A thin black cat emerged from the thicket, the same one the child had been watching. The cat darted back into the thicket in the blink of an eye, disappearing from sight.
"Mommy! Mommy!" The child laughed in my arms.
Despite Aaron's darkening expression, I was determined to carry the child with us.
As we closed the car door, my gaze returned once more to the thicket. The leaves rustled, and a vague figure seemed to emerge—a figure with long hair, black as night, holding the black cat.
She seemed to be waving at me.
YOU ARE READING
Mother, Child, and Ghost
Mystery / ThrillerI had a dream from beyond the grave, my dear. In the dreamscape, my motherly spirit whispered to me that a child was left behind, right by my resting place.
