Graveyard Girls

Written by D.A Chalmers

CW: past/referenced death

The mildew-stained limestone was cold to the touch, the engraved name barely discernible as the quiet woman traced her fingers slowly across its jagged face. The tombstone stared back at her with intensity, judging her from behind its foreboding silence.

What took you so long! It seemed to hiss through the whistling wind. Her lifeless eyes locked onto the ruined surface, tears welling as she whispered, “What took me so long?”

Gently, she wiped away the tears and stood to her feet, thinking back to the days when she and Samantha would come here to escape—a hidden corner of the world where they could be themselves, free from the judging eyes of others. Now, she remains here alone. Rotting under the mud and worms for eternity.

“I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry. I can’t even put into words how sorry I am, how terrible I feel for abandoning you.” The tears fell again, heavier this time. “If I could turn back time, I would. In a heartbeat. I wouldn’t even have to think about it.”

The sorrow spilled over; the tears unstoppable.

“I was a stupid girl who didn’t understand... I didn’t understand... how much pain you felt. I

wish, I wish... I wish I’d paid more attention; I wish I’d opened my eyes. Why... why was I so

blind, why was I so blind to the torment you felt.”

The image was vivid in her mind: her and Samantha hiding from the world, her and Samantha running from their issues, her and Samantha against it all. But was it really so? Did I even listen to your pleas for help? Or was I too caught in my own mess that I failed to see you... failed to understand you... failed to love you... failed to accept you.

The tears rolled out in incessive waves, crashing down onto the dirt roof of Samantha’s grave.

“We were the graveyard girls, the outcasts, the ones looking at life from outside the window, the outsiders... that’s what we believed. We believed it made us stronger, but it’s what stopped me from seeing you. I felt I had been cheated out of joy, stolen from me before I could even make a decision. But little did I know, my own hand, gripped onto hatred, was what made my decision for me. I chose sadness because I didn’t understand joy; I chose vengeance because I didn’t understand how to forgive; I chose hatred because I didn’t know how to love. I never really listened to you. When I looked at you, I saw myself. I looked past your soul and saw only me. It was always about me, ME, me, me, me, me, me...”

The tears began to subside, slowly. “But... not anymore.” She violently wiped away her sorrow and screamed, “You hear me? Not anymore—not now, not ever! I will live on for you, I will change for you, I will give myself the chance you were never given. I will heal for you; I will be better for you. I will live my life to the fullest where yours was cut short. Your death will not be in vain. I will grow; I will learn, and I will love for you. Forever. My beautiful graveyard girl.”

THE END.