Graveyard Keeper

Graveyard Keeper

"I feel as dead as all of these poor souls".
---Sitting on his favorite place under the old tree, Jack Sherrigan reflected about his solitary life as the graveyard keeper. For years he had been burying corpses and taking care of the small cemetery. His daily routine consisted of consoling the relatives of dead people at funerals, putting flowers on the cripts and even talking and singing to the non living around him. He almost fell as if they were his only friends.

---Looking at his wrinkled skin and rough hands he took a trip down memory lane remembering how he had ended up with a work that is scary to some and also repulsive to other people. "Well, someone has to do the dirty job", he thought as a small grin was drawn in his face.

---Living as an orphan was not an easy task. His father died at war and his mother couldn't bear the burden of her husband's loss and took her life soon after knowing the terrible news. Raised by his uncle and aunt, Jack learned fast about poverty and hard work. They lived at a farm near a so called ghost town. But Jack wasn't afraid of the ghost stories he heard from people. What scared him the most was the feeling of being alone. He received no love from his relatives and was forced to work day and night taking care of the farm chores. He spent all of his young years with no friends and knowing nothing about the thing called happiness. When he was 18 years old his uncle died of pneumonia and his aunt decided to send him to live with a neighboor that had worked all of his life as the graveyard keeper. Soon, Jack learned about digging graves with his own hands and shovel and about the solitude of the cemetery. The only person that brought happiness to his life was Cecile, the beautiful lady that he met one day at one funeral. Days went by and they got married. Jack couldn't feel more happy in those days. He loved her too much. For the first time in his life he felt capable of loving and being loved. But soon misfortune struck again in his life when Cecile died after their third year of marriage.

---Now, many years later the only company for Jack is the graveyard and all of the dead souls in it. Not feeling afraid of the night or of the dead, Jack ended another day of hard work.
"It is soon going to be dark" , he said as he looked at his cheap old wrist watch. It was 6:55pm and the sun was starting to go down. Jack's body, cripled by age but strong from a long life of hard work, was feeling tired.
One last thought passed on his mind before he decided to go home..." There is nothing worse than being afraid of my own life and past; about being alone" "It is too late for me now, soon I'm going to make company to all my friends here, six feet under the earth"...

---As Jack Sherrigan thought that, he felt fear of the cemetery for the first time in his long life. Walking from the graveyard to his home, he was startled by the silhoutte of a woman walking at his side. She was wearing a bright red beautifull dress. When he looked at her face he was amazed...It is his beloved Cecile, his long lost love, walking toward the old church were they were married so many years ago. Without hesitation, Jack followed her. Suddenly, when he looked back to the bench were he was sitting minutes before, he realized that after all, he had been a good person that only needed to be loved.

---The feeling of fear and solitude had abandoned Jack--- As he walked with Cecile he was again the strong and courageous graveyard keeper that he had been for almost all of his life. "Yes", he said to her, "I love the cemetery as much as I love you. I know that for sure"...