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The pale crescent of the moon offered very little light and the chill
breeze whipped tendrils of gossamer around the dim street lamp, casting
eerie shadows across the pavement. She was wishing she paid more
attention to the time, but the book she'd been reading at the library
had caused her to lose all track of time. Her mother was going to
be so mad! The tap, tap of her foot steps echoed hollowly as she
hurried home. She wished the librarian had called to her
attention how late it was getting. Sighing, she wondered if there
was a look satisfaction of the librarian's face as she locked the
library door behind her. The sound of footsteps and laughter in front of her sent a shiver of fear through her. Cemetery walk, as they called it, in the day time was quite nice. The low stone wall with iron fence, topped by the black spikes seemed dimly menacing but strong. It seemed to have the confidence of eternity and the knowledge that all would, someday, enter its portals. She hugged her arms over her breasts and stepped back, next to one of the massive stone supports, out of sight. Two men passed, laughing and talking quietly. They took no notice of the scared fifteen year old girl hiding in the shadows, trembling from the chill of the night, or maybe fear. Their voices vanished, muffled by the fog and they were lost to her sight. She noisily exhaled. "I wanna be home," she thought. The cemetery was circular, at least a half mile in diameter. She took a deep breath trying to decide. She could cut through and be on the other side in less than ten minutes, or, she sighed, walking around would be much longer and take her through an area that was not too nice this time of night. She hesitated, not wanting to walk though a grave yard on Halloween eve. "This is silly," she muttered. "No one in there is going to hurt me." After the scare by the two men, "disreputable pair," she muttered, she was ready to brave the "terrors" of the picturesque cemetery. As she entered the cemetery, a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning momentarily deafened and blinded her. For the briefest moment, "I'm dead!" flashed through her mind but then common sense reasserted itself and she blinked and shook her head, trying to clear her vision. The street lamp sputtered and a muffled "pop" signaled its demise as it blinked into darkness. A short gasp escaped from her. It was dark! She held her hand out could hardly see it. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the lower light level. The thin sliver of moon, so far away and partially obscured by scudding clouds and whirling tendrils of fog, offered such a dim light. She was afraid to go back out and hesitant to continue. Summoning up her courage, she took a few steps. She stopped. Was it her imagination? Carefully, silently she took a few more steps and felt the hair on her arms and the back of her neck prickle. Something was there. In the distance, a dog barked three sharp barks and yelped. She realized she was holding her breath and she exhaled. Again, a sound that should not be there. It reminded her of the low chuff, chuff, of an old steam locomotive, but almost below the level of perception and far, far too close. Panic touched her. It dimmed her vision, it turned her insides to water and she could feel a scream billowing in her throat, struggling to escape. "Stop it," she screamed mentally to herself. "Stop it this instant! You are not a child and you will not let your imagination run away like this." The took a couple of tentative steps, and with more confidence began the journey across the graveyard. Trying to keep a brisk pace, she determinedly strode towards the other side. Suddenly the path veered to the left, but she didn't remember any such turn. The path should have gone straight across, as she remembered it. She looked around in confusion, but the night was far too dark for her to be able to see anything to orient herself by. As she made the turn, she looked to the right, where she thought the exit should be but all she could see was tomb stones, monuments and two yellow glowing dots. "They, they look like eyes," she though to herself, her chin trembling. "Animal eyes!" Panic again tugged at her. Again she fought it and kept walking. Looking over her shoulder, she realized that whatever she'd seen was gone. Only the coolness of death was evident. She was less certain. She'd been walking what seemed like a long time and she wasn't sure where she thought was. She should have been home by now! Not wandering around in a graveyard on Halloween night! This was crazy. She looked around trying to get her bearings when she saw it. Well, she though she saw it. In the whirling fog, there seemed to be a darkness. Something that move, glided, and seemed to be coming towards her. She couldn't tell if it was near or far, only big or huge. Her courage melted. Vanished. She screamed, turned and ran as fast as she could, looking behind herself every few seconds and trying to stay on the twisting path and trying not to trip. Looking behind her, at the approaching form, she felt her body collide with something solid. She grunted, the wind knocked from her and crumpled to the ground, unable to breath or stand. She wanted to scream, but there was no air. She wanted to breathe. No! She NEEDED to breathe, but air would not come into her lungs. Blackness clouded her vision and she couldn't feel her body. She her a loud smack and felt a sharp blow between her shoulder blades and air rushed into her lungs. Air, sweet air. All was right with the world again. She could breathe. It came rushing back, the form, her flight, what had she run into. She looked up and saw a tall man holding his hand out to her. "You should be more careful, Miss. Running in the dark, especially in here," he wave his hand indicating the general area, "really isn't a good idea." He took her firmly by the hand and helped her to her feet. "Are you feeling ok? That was a nasty bump you took when you ran full tilt into me." Taking a deep and more than welcome breath, she nodded. "Yes, I think I'm going to live, now. Although, I did have my doubts for a few moments. She imagined she could see him smile in the darkness. He was tall, wearing a long black oil skin and a black full brimmed hat, appropriate for the weather. Glancing over her shoulder, again, she wondered what has happened to the form that had been stalking her. It had been there. She was certain of that. Looking back at him she asked, "Can you help me out of here? I seem to have gotten turned around and I don't know how to get home." She could hear the tremor in her voice and she hoped he didn't notice it. She felt like a fool, but she was really scared. "You want the west side, don't you?" She nodded. "Follow me. It's less than five minutes." He held out his hand to her. Reflexively she took his hand and they started off at an easy walk. She kept glancing back over her shoulder, expecting to see or hear something, but it was silent. "Silent as a graveyard," she sarcastically thought. "You are being silly." Then he said it. The simple statement that brought the fear crashing in again, that made her want to scream again, that made her want to run so far and so fast. "Don't worry, Miss," he said, "it won't bother you now." She felt her knees buckle but his firm grasp kept her from falling. "IT won't bother you now." He knew it was there and he wasn't afraid of it. Her heart was pounding as she looked up at him. A tall man in a dark coat and hat. There was nothing to see. Well, it did appear his hair was dark and shoulder length, but while that was sort of strange, you really couldn't call it sinister. But he knew it was there. He said "it" wouldn't bother you now. "Yu, You work here?" she gasped, finally finding her voice. He shook his head no. "No. No I don't. I guess you could say that I'm visiting." Thoughts raced through her mind and she realized he probably meant he was visiting the grave of someone he'd lost. "Oh," she said in a small voice, "I'm sorry." "No," he said in a cold metallic voice. "No need to be sorry. Once a year I get the chance to visit. It sort of a tradition." "A weird tradition," she thought. Wandering a graveyard on Halloween night. That was one tradition she didn't want to ask too much about. They walked silently, her steps sounding flat in the foggy night. Something nibbled at her consciousness but she wasn't sure what. There, there! She had it! He coughed, and squeezed her hand, apparently to attract her attention. She jumped, losing the stream of consciousness she'd been pursuing. She could see street lights. Lights she recognized! "Oh, thank you," she gasped. She impulsively jumped up and kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his huge hand in both of hers. "Thank you so much!" She ran into the light and onto her street. Turning to wave good bye, she could see his form fading into the strange fog. He held up his hand. Was he waving to her or summoning something. As the fog closed on him she thought she saw a great dark form appear and lie at his feet, but it could have been the fog. She ran home to face the wrath of her mother.
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