(SSSC) "The Grave In The Woods"

As far as Mike was concerned, moving into the new house was a wonderful thing. He could work from home, and he got to have beautiful mountain views, waterfalls and green meadows all around him. He could hardly wait to explore more of it. His wife Teresa had misgivings about being so far away from the city but she had agreed with him that it certainly was a nice area.

Looking into the heavily shaded woods behind the house Mike spotted what looked like a path. He stepped off the back porch and made his way down the sloping backyard. As he stopped, he observed that the path was an old one with rocks now and again marking the way. He started down it happily crunching the early fall leaves that carpeted his way and sniffing the clean mountain air appreciatively. The splashing sound of a small waterfall soon caught his attention and he stopped to admire the pristine beauty of the woods surrounding him.

He glanced from the bubbling pool at the bottom of the fall and noticed an odd shape on the far side of the little creek. It looked out of place somehow amongst it's surrounding greenery. Curiosity got the better of him and he found himself stepping through the icecold shallow water to get a closer look. After he'd negotiated up the steep bank he stood up and looked around. He could now see that it was an old grave. Suddenly the wind whistled through the trees overhead as if confirming that this was indeed a resting place for the long forgotten dead. Mike was a little creeped out and the hair stood up on his arms. The sun went behind the clouds making the already shady place a little darker adding to his feeling of uneasiness.

An ancient tombstone stood half-buried in the ground. It was the odd shape that he had noticed earlier. A sunken hollow in the earth was testimony to what lay beneath it. Looking closer at the crumbling tombstone he could barely decipher the almost worn away name and date. It read: Elizabeth Kerry 1850-1866. "How had she come to be here all alone in this part of the woods? What had happened to her?" He wondered. He scrubbed away more dirt from the old stone in hopes of finding another inscription and found none. Standing for a few more moments surveying the scene, Mike then returned across the creek and hurried back up the path. His morbid discovery made him more than a little eager to get home before the sun went down.

A few minutes later an eerie moan came from underneath the earth as something long dead awakened from it's slumber. Someone had disturbed it. Greedily it licked it's dried decayed lips and opened eyes that had not seen the light of day in over a hundred years. The unblessed earth crumbled inwards at it's efforts and the old tombstone toppled over. It finally crawled up out of it's dark womb with maggots clinging to it's ruin of a face. A face that had once been quite beautiful. Hair that was still blonde stood in clumps on it's skull. The remains of a white wedding gown hung in tatters from it's dessicated body. Struggling to it's thin skeleton legs it took a shuffling step forward towards the direction of the cabin...

When Mike arrived back home the sun had began to go down over the mountains. Long shadows lengthened in the coming twilight as he opened the back screendoor. The trek to and from the graveyard had taken longer than he'd thought. Feeling unexplained apprehension he called Teresa's name. No answer. Looking into the driveway through the front window he saw that her car was still in the driveway. Where could she be? No note was on the counter where she normally would've left one.

The phone's ringing made him jump as if he'd been shot. Putting a hand to his chest Mike picked up the phone. It was his missing wife Teresa. Her friend Marny had picked her up and they'd gone shopping in the city. Time had gotten away from them and she had decided to spend the night with her friend rather than make the long drive back home. Fussing at Teresa for not leaving him a note and making him worry, Mike soon forgave her carelessness and told her that he would see her tomorrow.

He picked up the phone again and dialed Mr. Talbot's number. Mr. Talbot was the old man who had sold them the cabin. Having lived in the area since he'd been born maybe he would know about the grave on the property and the story of it's lonely occupant. After listening to what Mike had found, Mr. Talbot informed Mike that Elizabeth had been his great, great aunt and then told her story.

"Elizabeth was only 16 years old in 1866. She had been betrothed to a man named Silas who had been an abusive, mean man. The only reason she was to marry him was for the money he had made in sawmills. In other words, Elizabeth's poverty-stricken family saw him as a "good catch". The Father being a materialistic unfeeling man got along well with his future son-in-law. On the day of the wedding Elizabeth had begged her father to not make her take Silas as her husband. Slapping her across the face, the father had warned Elizabeth she would become an outcast in the family if she refused to take her wedding vows. Sobbing pitifully after the confrontation she had ran out to the barn, jumped onto a horse and raced out of the yard. They found her not very far away from the house with her neck broken. In her mad dash for freedom she had been thrown from the horse. Her cold-hearted father had her buried quietly and unceremoniously in an unhallowed grave deep in the woods of the family property."

Mr. Talbot told Mike he apologized for not telling him about the grave. Mike told him not to worry, it was no big deal. He would make sure the grave remained undisturbed.

Hanging up the phone Mike felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he heard the backscreen door creak slowly open. Dirt clods fell to the floor as the shuffling steps came closer and closer...A voice from the grave itself said the words "I'M HOME DADDY."

Mike started screaming and never knew when he stopped.



The End













[edit on 7-10-2007 by elaine]

[edit on 7-10-2007 by elaine]

[edit on 7-10-2007 by elaine]

A very nice story. I enjoyed it a lot, thanks for writing and sharing it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but was the premise borrowed from Pet Sematary? It's been a long time since I read that, but this reminded me of it.

Being a fan of the undead, I am always interested in how a writer 'turns' their ghouls and I found your method sufficiently creepy.

Once I finished with your work, I couldn't help but wish there was a little more information about what kind of undead Elizabeth had become. Was she a flesh eater? Did she crave brain matter? Was she even murderous, or merely confused about being reanimated?

Leaving these questions in my mind, in essence leaving me wanting more, was also something I enjoyed about it.

Enrikez.

No I did'nt intentionally borrow from "Pet Cemetery" although I have been a King fan for many years.

I might've let a little of King's influence creep in without meaning to perhaps (darn it, lol)

I'm pretty new to writing and I'm still learning.

Thankyou for commenting on my story.

Don't worry about letting things influence your stories, either way, I meant it as a compliment.

I gave you a star too, I thought it was great!