The Lonely Moon

Understanding Pain

The following day me and Sarah took the train to the town were her grandparents lived. I didn't know where I was going at all, so I let her take the lead the entire time. After about and hour or so walk from the station, we ended up at a graveyard that looked quite small. I said, "Seems pretty small for a graveyard, doesn't it?" She responded, "There has never been a whole lot of people who live in this town, it's very small. That's why they moved here, they liked the quiet." I nod my head in understanding, as we walk through the graveyard. She eventually stops walking and we stand in front of two graves, side by side. I asked, even though I knew the answer, "Is this them?" She nodded. I said, "I'll give you some time alone, I won't be far, so if you need me just call my name." She didn't respond. I walked around the graveyard a bit and realized just how beautiful it was. Even though it was a sad place it felt like the surroundings are trying to cheer you up. Eventually while walking around, I notice a man walking between the graves and occasionally stopping to dust one off or to put flowers by them. I walked up to him and asked him, "Are you the grave keeper here?" He responded, "Yep, been doing this job for about 25 years now." I ask him, "Doesn't this job feel morbid or lonely?" He chuckles, "No, I've never felt that way about, I see it as our responsibility to respect the dead. It's just what I feel is right, to make sure none of the graves here go uncleaned." After that he went quiet for a bit and then eventually asked me, "What are you doing here, if you don't mind me asking?" I said, "I'm here with my girlfriend, she's visiting  her grandparents graves." Something clicked in his head and he asked, "Is her name Sarah, by any chance?" I was surprised and said, "Yes, how do you know her?" He crouched down next to a grave and started cleaning it, "I was the one who buried them here. She was the only one who showed up to the funeral, it was sad to watch, but I didn't really know what I could have done. I tried to find any other family to come with her, but I couldn't find any, so I let it go once she left the town." I was surprised, not knowing any of this until now. I asked him, "So, did you ever talk to her?" He replied in a somber voice, "Yes, I did. I told her that even when the night seems long and the dawn will never come, that the dawn will always come to end the night no matter how long it is. It was something like that, I told that to her grandfather once to." I was surprised to hear that from him that I couldn't help but smile and say, "You know she said that to me once to, she said that I was her dawn to the long night. I could say she is the same for me, so even if you don't think you helped her. You did help her." He is shocked at first, but then he gives a big grin and says in a happy voice, "I'm glad to hear that. I was worried that I might have made it worse by saying that, but I'm glad it wasn't just an old man rambling." I started to walk back towards Sarah, but as I was walking down the path, the old man called out saying one more thing, "Hey, just remember you need to be there for her as much as she needs to be there for you, it's a two way bridge." I said nothing back but thought to myself that I would remember those words for the rest of my life. I walk back over to Sarah's grandparent's grave and see her standing there, head down. I walked up behind her and put my arms around her and said, "You done?" She grabs my arms, pulling them tighter around her and says, quietly, "Yes. Where did you go?" I said, "I was just walking around when I meet the grave keeper. He's a nice old man, we chatted for a bit." She moves away from my hug and holds my hand as we turn to leave and says with a smile, "Leave it to you to even find someone to talk to in a graveyard." I smile in return and we walk towards the entrance of the graveyard. As we pass through the entrance I remember what the old man had said and silently thought to myself that I would never forget those words. So we headed home and once we were there we started talking about the funeral tomorrow. I asked Sarah, "Are you going to go to school till the funeral?" She shakes her head and says, "No, I'm going to stay here with you till we need to leave for the funeral." We are sitting on the couch watching TV and when she says that, I smile and put my arm around her saying, "Thanks, I was hoping that you would say that." I lean over to her and kiss her. She leans her head on my shoulder and closes her eyes, I ask her, "Tired? It's been a long day." She nods her head saying, "I'm going to go to bed, don't stay up too late." I nod my head and she leaves the room to go to bed. I end up not staying up much too longer because I was tired from today as well and wanted to wake up early the next day, so I go upstairs and fall asleep next to her.