Gravesite (Blogophlia 40.5)



It was a beautiful spot, way up the hillside with a view of the valley and river.  It was now in the hazy shade of winter.  My skin stung with blowing snow.  There was not going to be any digging until the storm subsided.  Nobody outside the family knew she was dead.  To everyone else, she had just taken off.  Back home to Omaha or wherever.  She didn’t have any other family we knew of, so there was no way to for anyone to disprove the claim.    

But he knew.   It was his form of divorce.  Always in control, he had been the one who buried her up here.  What was he thinking, giving me this trinket?  It was Mom’s.  The information he would never tell the police, he left to me as he gasped his last in the infirmary.  I looked down at his shell and knew the worst was over.  I signed the cremation papers and said the ashes could be flushed in the sewer.  The German Storm Trooper who had brought me into the world had passed. The fear and beatings were no more.  Just another piece of trash to throw away.

The fact I was there was against the rules. But that didn’t matter.  I needed to know where she was.  It wasn’t said in words, but in the picture.  I had been up here many times with him. Now I could tie up the last the last gaping hole in my personal tapestry. 

He didn’t know I had seen him bring the axe down on her head.  Or that I had seen him load the body into the truck and drive away.  But I knew never to say anything.  The thought of cold steel against my own throat assured that.   I knew he had taken the truck up to the ridge somewhere.  After he had been got sent to prison, I had come up to see if I could find her.  As it turned out, I hadn’t been far, maybe 200 feet downhill. 

I made my way back to the snowmobile.  The risk of being stranded was too much.  I could hear the voice of Ugly Kid Joe as I wound my way down.  As much as I resisted, I knew I was going to be just like him.  


Comments

  1. sueNovember 27, 2012 at 3:40 PM

    personal tapestry. - I have no words. It was amazing I'll have to read it again

    ReplyDelete
  2. sueNovember 27, 2012 at 5:16 PM

    Trying to get a handle on “he” ah his ashes down the sewer

    The fact I was there was against the rules. But that didn’t matter. I needed to know where she was. It wasn’t said in words, but in the picture. I had been up here many times with him. Now I could tie up the last the last gaping hole in my personal tapestry.

    ok it's me - too much computer work the para above confuses me

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 29, 2012 at 1:17 AM

    Woah! This indeed a heavy write! I too would have feared the axeman, but to think that following his path is a foregone destiny...chilling! 8 points Earthling! :)

    Marvin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another Government EmployeeNovember 29, 2012 at 4:47 AM

      It was the first thing I thought of when the covered song prompt came up.

      Delete
  4. AnonymousNovember 29, 2012 at 10:41 AM

    Easy to image turning out just like him/them - but I still like to believe it can be avoided.

    TM

    ReplyDelete
  5. trevNovember 30, 2012 at 9:26 PM

    I like to think that such behaviour is not hereditary... but its likely if you have been bought up like it... this is a truly shilling tale Christopher... with twists and turn that unfold little by little... compelling reading indeed pal

    ReplyDelete

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