short stories

the party don't start till midnight

I walk along the empty dirt road the moon shining up ahead. Stars twinkle like thousand jewels against a dark coat. I had just gotten out  of my late night . I was anxious to get home tomorrow was the 11th of September and that signified the midterm test. That's dreaded test the every reasonable man would detest. I decided to take the shortcut through the back of the woods that leads into the graveyard. Guided by the small amount of moonlight did I make it through the woods. I enjoyed the sound of silence that float in the air until, the musical tinkles of thousand laughs join it in the distance. I follow the melodic sounds deeper into the darkness until the light becomes noticeable. And there I see multiple figures twirling, dancing, and walking everywhere I see.

Tables with golden legs and adorned with white lace cloth are all arranged in rows. On top of each is a candle. I walk a bit closer until I can see each person. Ladies in a bride's dress and men in their best Sunday wear. Children in all different colors both boys and girls of all ages, from a toddler to an elderly person, are mingling together.

I join them in their gathering. Nobody pushes and shoves at all in fact it feels as though they had stopped moving all together. No one even seems to take notice of my appearance. And so I bring myself to the middle of the large field and sit underneath a large oak tree, watching as a woman clink her glass of red wine with that of her partners. The ladies give a curtsy and the men hold out their hand and bow. I continue to watch as each woman accept their partner's hand. Each pair begins to dance in a sort of haisty walts. The ladies gown each flutter in the air as they spin and spin turning the almost unnoticeable breeze into a horrific wind. I start to shout at them as the wind kicks up more and more dirt. The glasses and tablecloths are torn from their seats and swirl and tumble and collide in the air in the air, hurraling tiny crystal knives around all of us. The dancing people take no notice of me and the words that I shout. If anything it seem to have excited and more and they dance faster, making the tables topple over one by one like dominoes. All I could do was sit down and lean against the tree clutching my head and squeezing my eyes shut as much as I can.

Suddenly I notice that the laughing and terrible winds have stopped. I raise my head and look around. Nothing. There is nothing. Not a suit, not a skirt, not even a single shard of glass or shoe to be seen. There is only markers of my ancestors left in their place. I stood up and dusted the dirt off my suit. And it was then that I noticed. Right next to me on the dirt was another cement slab.

In loving memory of:

Arthur Reed

Date of Birth: November 28, 1962

Date of Departure: September 15, 1982

This a lovely fellow was a loving son and a great pal to all who met him.

Tis a shame that some unruly person would give him a gruesome end in the middle of the graveyard. May he rest in peace until he is able to be received by the hands of God. Amen.