You know that time of night when the world seems a little too still? It’s the time when odd things happen to us and paralyzing thoughts fill our brains. The dust will settle and yet the winds still howl like they always do. There is no stopping them. As I walk down the gray path that leads into the cemetery, I hear the hateful whispers of the rustling leaves. I see the silhouette of my house in the distance. It looks so small, and yet “everything looks perfect from far away”.
I return my attention to the cemetery and I see a woman kneeling down in front of a small grave. She is trying to light a candle but the wind will not allow it. It extinguishes the flame with a scornful howl. After many attempts she finally lights the candle and grasps it tightly in her shivering hands. She is crying and I slowly walk over to her. The leaves circle around us in a choreographed dance. They match the intricate colors on her skirt; red, orange, yellow, brown.
I stare at this woman who looks so familiar. Her bony fingers run across the words written on the grave. I stare for what seems like an eternity. The words spell my name, my birthday, and my death? I am dead? The wind begins to scream and the leaves mock my terror. I’m dead. I begin to scream “KAREL”! She does not hear me. I try to touch her but my gray skin falls through her, I am an apparition. I try to run but my feet are stuck to the ground. Through her weeping I hear her quietly ask “why”?