Cemetery Dreams : Flash Fiction #2
"Rest in Peace Abel and Judy Myers" read the joint headstone at the front of two empty plots at Drakesville Cemetery.
Gary stood in front of the two plots next to the new trainee, Tony, and his boss. The townsfolk all thought Judy would drop soon after her soulmate Abel, but she quickly sought comfort in good friend and neighbor Jim and was said to be doing well. Jim was helping her pay for her hip replacement next week. He said a woman shouldn't have to worry about paying any extra expenses during such a tragic time.
"Gary, I'm gonna need you to finish filling this second plot back up before the funeral tomorrow. We mustn't upset the wife. It's a miracle she is pulling through all this," said the boss.
"Yeah, one of many miracles I'm sure," joked Tony.
"Shut it, kid! Gary, show this juvenile the ropes. He needs to be ready when you leave us in a month to retire."
"Sure thing, boss. I think I'll stay late tonight with the boy to get it done. Mrs. Mackle is still here by her husband's plot. I wouldn't want to bother her."
Gary and Tony went back to the shed to have some supper before they got to work. Once the sun went down and dinner was done, Tony was busy yelling on his phone. He appeared to be fighting with his girlfriend again.
Gary was getting agitated waiting for Tony to be done.
"Well, I'm gonna go fill up that plot, if ya wanna come out an' help. See how things should get done."
"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Two minutes."
Gary sighed deeply, got up his shovel by the door, and made his way to the Myers' plots. He had been a gravedigger for 45 years. When he thought about retirement, he couldn't imagine life without the peace and solitude. He respected the dead, but he knew his replacement did not.
He stood staring down at the plot and imagined what it might be like down there. Of course, he had stood in dozens of plots when he was digging them out the old-fashioned way, but he never laid in one.
"I am almost done here. What's the harm in trying it out?" He thought to himself.
He laid down in the cold, wet dirt and stared up at the sky. Being physically surrounded by death, it got him thinking about the concept entirely, and especially the death of his career. He was still young enough to do something with his life. This job was the only thing that he knew, yet there was so much more out there. Gary was getting excited about the future and came to regret not knowing another life outside of the graveyard. He closed his eyes to try and picture it all, but he started to drift off to sleep.
Meanwhile, Tony was busting out of the shed in a huff. He walked on over to the backhoe and drove it on over to the plot without giving a second thought about where Gary was. It was pitch black outside at this point, and Tony was too busy winning a fake argument with himself to take notice of anything but himself.
Tony brought the backhoe over to the plots and was able to dump mass amounts if dirt into the hole. He thought it was more efficient than a shovel.
Sadly, the poor gravedigger was buried alive that night. Tony couldn't hear Gary yelling over the machine- after he was woken up from the noise and falling dirt, of course. Once the plot was filled, Tony went back to the shed to collect his things to go home. He was too focused on his own problems to look for Gary or even wonder where he went.
They found Gary's body a week later after Judy Myers didn't wake up from her hip replacement surgery. Tony was taken in for questioning, but it was eventually ruled an accident. However, there were some people claiming that it was suicide.
At his funeral, his boss gave a speech.
"Gary gave his life to this cemetery for 45 years, and it is fitting that he died here. I knew the man well, and I can tell you that retirement was going to be hard on him. This place was his life and the only life he wanted to know. I think we can all find peace in knowing just that."
Gary's dreams were buried alongside him that day, but sadly no one knew it.
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