The Fear Of Night
Here's story four for the season
Roger and Lizzy often passed the creepy cemetery but never stopped. Not until the night when their car broke down in front of it.
"Why did the car have to break down here?" Lizzy said while she looked through the passenger side window.
"I know," Roger checked his pockets for his cell phone, "did you bring your phone with you?" Roger asked Lizzy.
"No, I thought you would have yours," she said.
Roger looked in his rearview mirror and saw only darkness. He then looked toward the cemetery and saw some lit lamp posts. Roger thought for a moment about what to do and then broke the silence.
"Okay, the shortest way back to town is through the cemetery," Roger said.
Lizzy quickly looked at him, "you're kidding right?"
"You can wait here if you prefer."
Lizzy glanced out the windows and then looked back at the cemetery, "no, I'd rather go with you."
"Okay... Let's go then," Roger opened his car door and got out.
Lizzy watched Roger as he walked around the front of the car and over to her door. She slowly got out of the car and stared at the cemetery. The night air was slightly cool but manageable. The sky was cloudy and dark, and the air smelled of fresh wet dirt.
"Did they just bury someone here?" Lizzy asked.
"I don't know, why?"
"Because I smell wet dirt."
Roger sniffed the air and then shrugged his shoulders, it's a cemetery, that's all he knew. Lizzy grabbed his hand and held it tight while they entered through the cemetery gate. The soft glow of the lamp posts lit the roadway but most of the gravesites were very dark. Some of the gravesites however did have a few solar lights placed near them by family members. That created a little glow in the distance.
Lizzy glanced around as they walked the narrow road. She thought she would at least hear chirping crickets, but it was very quiet. The only sound they heard at the moment was their own shoes on the pavement as they walked.
"It's pretty spooky in here," Lizzy said.
"It does sort of gives me the creeps too," Roger said as he pulled Lizzy closer to him.
"How do you know we can get to town this way?" Lizzy asked.
"Oh, when I was younger I would cut through the cemetery to go to a carnival they used to have in Patterman's field. That was before he died that is," Roger explained.
"Oh, well how far away is town from here?"
"Um, about two miles is all."
"Two miles?" Lizzy looked at Roger.
"Don't worry, it'll be alright," Roger lifted their clasped hands and kissed the back of hers.
Lizzy smiled at Roger and felt a little more at ease. That was until they heard heavy running footsteps.
Roger suddenly stopped and looked around, "you heard that right?"
Lizzy quickly clung to Roger's waist, "yes, what was that?"
"It sounded like someone running towards us, didn't it?"
"Yes, that's what I thought too."
The two of them looked around but didn't see anyone. They continued on the winding road until Roger remembered that they would have to leave the road. The road only looped the cemetery and would end up back where they began. So Roger remembered that they would have to cut through some of the gravesites to get to the fence. On the other side of the fence would be another field and then the main road to town.
Lizzy stopped, "where are we going?"
"We have to go this way now. This takes us to the field we need to cross to get to town," Roger said.
"But it's so dark. How are we going to see where we're going?"
"It's okay, we got this," he said.
Lizzy was hesitant but cautious not to step on any graves. She also had to let go of Roger's hand though. Single file, the two of them carefully walked about a hundred feet across the grass. And before they got to the old wood fence, they both heard the heavy running footsteps again. Lizzy turned around and screamed. Roger then turned and saw glowing face of the pumpkin man. Roger grabbed Lizzy's hand and pulled her along as he ran to the fence. The pumpkin man they thought was another fairytale told to scare kids.
Roger and Lizzy managed to get over the fence and into the wheat field. They ran for another few minutes until Lizzy couldn't run anymore. Roger looked back and didn't see or hear anyone behind them.
"I think we lost him," Roger said in between deep breaths.
"What was that?" Lizzy asked.
After Roger and Lizzy rested for a minute, they continued walking to the road that led into town. Roger also told Lizzy the story that he had heard about the pumpkin man. She had only lived in the area for a couple of months and didn't know anything about it. Roger first told her about Joe and how he didn't have very many friends so he took the job of the cemetery groundskeeper. Roger said that as a kid he talked with Joe a couple of times and he seemed okay.
"I honestly didn't believe the story until tonight," Roger said.
Roger told Lizzy that he was told that Joe worked at the cemetery for twenty or more years and usually kept to himself. That was until a drifter came to town and befriended Joe. The drifter convinced Joe to let him stay with him at the cemetery and help maintain the grounds. Joe gladly accepted the help and companionship. But one day, Joe and the drifter got into a huge fight and Joe wanted the man to leave. Joe went into town for a short while with hopes that the drifter would be gone when he got back.
But instead, the drifter waited in the shadows for Joes return. When Joe got back and found his quarters and the shed quiet he figured the drifter had left. But when Joe walked the cemetery to do the property check, the drifter took a sickle, walked up behind him, and beheaded Joe. The townspeople didn't realize that it happened until one of them went out to the cemetery to check on Joe. The day of Halloween the concerned citizen found Joes body sitting next to the shed with a carved pumpkin in place of his head. From that day on, a few of the townspeople take turns maintaining the cemetery, but no one will stay there for very long.
"I think I understand why," Lizzy said.
"Yeah, and some of them said that they even saw Joe as the pumpkin man walking the grounds like he's still looking for his killer."
Lizzy couldn't wait to get home and neither of them ever went back into that cemetery. Some people still say the story is just a fairytale, but Roger and Lizzy know better.
The End
I hope that you enjoyed this weeks spooky story. I want to thank you for visiting my newsletter and please don’t forget to hit the heart and share this story with your friends. Thank you and have a great day.