It was dark in the chapel, a new moon shed no
light in the old abandoned building He sat on a pew moved under a window
he watched and waited. Tonight he was prepared with camera, recorder,
extra batteries, and a thermos of hot coffee to combat the chill of the
night.
His
hands wrapped around the tin cup absorbing the heat as he took a long
sip. It was almost time, almost. He was afraid they wouldn’t come, he
wouldn’t see her again. That it had been all a figment of his drunken
mind.
Every
night since that first one he had waited to see her again. He glanced
back out the window he saw a glow fill the ancient graveyard.
The
glow was a soft bluish green like the ocean. The air felt damp heavy as
he tossed aside the half full cup to get up on his knees for a better
view out the broken window. His camera was in hand as he searched the
worn headstones for her.
The
earth below a few of the stones shifted as a mist formed above them,
taking shape. Arms stretched toward the sky as feet touched the ground.
The figures yawned and moved as if waking from slumber.
He
watched from his perch in the window holding up his camera to get the
proof he wasn’t mad. They were real. The women there were like wisps of
wind, ethereal. He could see them clearly in their ivory burial gowns,
their skin fair as fine porcelain. But there was a touch of dream about
them as they moved. Shifts in the misty glow would show them
transparent.
His
interest focused on one as she turned her skirt swirling the brittle
leaves over her grave. She seemed to dance to some silent tune, perhaps
only her kind could hear. Suddenly she stopped and walked back to her
tombstone.
A
cream colored rose lay on the aged marble. A soft smile of wonder
slowly spread across her pinked lips. She touched the petals gently as
if it would fade away. When it didn’t she picked it up and brushed her
cheek against the silken petals before she inhaled the sweet scent.
A
few of the other spirits began to gather to see the flower. Some
searched their own stones. She smiled and held it out for them to sniff
and touch lightly it had been so very long since anything but decay grew
here.
The
wind blew leaves around them, though their delicate forms. One jealous
spiteful spirit marched over. Around her, the mist seemed darker, and
aura of her cruel days in flesh perhaps.
Her hand closed over the petals and crushed the flower leaving only the stem in the sweet spirits hands.
The
others began to walk away to play on their night of freedom. The dark
soul raised her chin and moved as far from them as her existence would
allow.
He
watched wanting in that moment to run out and tell her not to be sad.
The expression of loss on her sweet face was almost too much for his own
heart to bare. How was he to know something as simple as a rose would
cause so much.
Out
the window, he saw her chest rise and fall in a ghostly sigh. The
spirit knelt on the dead grass and picked up every petal, caressing it
lightly in her hand. When they were all gathered she sat on a cracked
marble bench and marveled.
She
could still smell the sweet fragrance; the petals were still soft like
her favorite velvet gown. She held them to her face and smiled. A petal
escaped, slipped through her fingers to float into her lap.
She
stood and watched it float gently to the worn earth. Suddenly she
raised her hands and spun around tossing the petals in the air. As they
fell around her catching on her hair and dress she danced in them.
When
they had all fallen she gathered them to dance again in the glow of the
mist. Her gown flowed around her, arms gracefully moved through the
air, her dark hair flowed free around her shoulders lifting as she
turned.
There
was no sound but a soft rustle of leaves but he could imagine her
joyous laughter. Something made her pause and look up. She brushed a
strand of hair from her face and sighed. She gathered up her petals and
carried them lovingly back to her grave.
She
held her hands over it then slowly turned her palms letting petals fall
like soft rain over her stone. With a gentle smile, she yawned and
stretched as the mist appeared to grow thicker. Soon the others were in
their places as well the mist began to fade until a glimpse of the sun
could be spotted over the trees.
