Chapter 4 - Moving Forward Into the Unknown

With wrapped and bloody hands, I gripped the doorknob to my house. A sense of foreboding shot through me as I began to turn it. The creaking of the door, usually a background noise, was especially grating at this moment.

“Grandpa? I’m home. Are you feeling any better?” I asked, only to find silence as an answer. “Grandpa!” I sprinted to the bedroom, with sweat and panic pouring from my being. I nearly broke down the door in my haste to enter. When the bedroom door opened, I expected to see my grandpa’s lifeless form lying on the bed. Thankfully that expectatIon wasn’t met however, my grandpa was actually not in the bedroom at all. The only clue I had to him still being alive was a small trail of blood I hadn’t noticed before in my rush to enter.

I calmed myself down and tried to proceed along the trail with as cool a head as I could manage at the time. I wandered outside of the house and searched for the next bloodstain I could find and I saw it around 10 feet away heading in the direction that lead further out of town. I pulled my hoodie closer to guard against the chill that was creeping down my spine. “If Grandpa has lost this much blood… is he still alright?” I worried to myself. Of course, I, myself, had probably lost a large amount of blood at this point as well, but my mind wasn't focused on that.

I lost the trail a couple of times, but I finally managed to get to what I assumed was the destination that Grandpa Ian was trying to get to. Grandpa has actually clambered all the way to the cemetery, the same cemetery where my grandma and parents were buried. I knew the location of the graves intrinsically as the memory or my Grandpa sobbing at my parents funeral was a scar on my heart that would never be able to heal.

Just as expected, I found my grandpa, kneeling next to my deceased grandma Ann’s grave. As I approached, I could already tell, Grandpa was no longer breathing. Upon close inspection, it seemed that Grandpa Ian wrote a message.

“Ann, can we dance again?”

A short message. The hand that laid atop the message was bloodied and worn, as if it took all the remaining strength to write just that last sentence. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer and bawled as if I were a newborn. If an outsider were to witness this scene, surely they would describe it as sorrowfully picturesque. A man, 22 years of age, weeping on his knees at the sight of his grandfather kneeling by a grave as the cold winds blew.

Unbeknownst to me, the sun had actually risen by the time the tears ran out. “What can I do now?” I thought to myself. “I'm going to need some money so that I can get a gravestone for Grandpa. First though, I need to get a shovel.” I got up and shuffled my way back home. I found our shovel in our closet, and it looked worn, like it has seen many years of use. I found this odd because I couldn't remember a time when my grandpa must've used it. I then remembered that the shoeboxes were buried, so I guessed that the last time must've been around then.

At the thought of the shoeboxes, I recalled the envelope and letter that I had forgotten to read about. The sentry had gotten in the way before I had a chance to read it closely. I fished the letter out of my pocket and opened it with my bloody-wrapped hands. The note, crumpled, torn a little, and covered in a little dirt read:

John,

If you're reading this, then that means I must've been unable to go and get the inheritance myself. Whether this is due to old age or due to me being sick, I won't know. John, I have taught you so many things in such a short time. I knew that the moment I took custody of you, I'd need to set this aside. So I decided to bury this in a place that no one goes to or cares about, the forest. Ha, no one cares about it anymore. It seems like it's been an extremely long time since nature has been important to people. I used to be a forester and work in the forests, but my job got cancelled and I got laid off. Fortunately, I managed to find a new job, but that's irrelevant. John, I taught you almost everything that I knew of the environment and how it works. Whether or not you find it important is up to you. In the boxes I buried is something around $500,000. It's everything that I've managed to scrape up during my life and I'm hoping to give it all to you.

I hope you live a good life,

Grandpa Ian Haze

“Grandpa…” Tears were welling up in my eyes at the thought of all the difficulties that we went through, yet he still made sure that I had enough money to live off of in the end.

I rushed off to the graveyard again, this time, to find someone else standing above Grandpa. I slowed and cautiously approached the stranger. A twig snapped underfoot, causing to stranger to be startled and turn my way.

“Geez, you scared me youngster. Judging by that shovel, I'm going to guess that you're this man’s relative?” The stranger questioned me.

“Yes, I am.” I said with a measured tone, hiding the cloud of emotions.

“Good, I'm the graveyard manager here. My name is Jacob. I'm guessing the ‘Ann’ that your grandfather left in his note is the grave he's currently coddling?” Jacob leaned over to read the headstone to confirm his hypothesis. “Right, so we could bury them together. The lot next to Ann is open, so I'll draw the lines and get my shovel to help you.” Jacob rushed off before I could even get another word in.

“Wow, that man could talk forever it felt like. He probably could even keep a conversation with himself with how much he talked.” I thought. While Jacob was away I opened the shoeboxes and counted a total of 515,000 dollars, took out the 15,000 to give to Jacob for Grandpa’s tombstone.

Jacob returned, wheezing and out of breath. “My goodness, it's been a long time since I had a sudden funeral to do. Most of the funerals are planned out months in advance. Oh this is so exciting! Burying a body always makes me so emotional.”

I tried my best to dig as fast as I could, just so I would be able to get away from him all the faster. I dug one side of the grave while Jacob dug the other. After we made the hole 6 feet deep, we got out. “Does he have a coffin?” Jacob asked. In my rush to get Grandpa a headstone and a grave, I had forgot about the coffin. I showed Jacob the $15,000 and asked him if this would be enough to cover it.

“Honestly, I can see how little money the two of you must have had by observing your clothes. Also, your job must be terrible if you come home with bloody hands like that.” He assumed that I had hurt my hands at work, but I didn't dare reveal the truth to him. I didn't want his loose-lips to speak any of my secrets, especially that I had jumped the forest fence.

Jacob continued, “The money for that would indeed be able to cover the cost of the coffin, but do you have enough for the tombstone? No, I can already surmise, those bills are the all you could get, I understand. Let me do you a service then, I'll fashion a cheaper coffin and use the money for the rock.” It was convenient that Jacob drew such a quick conclusion, but honestly, it was starting to get on my nerves.

I thanked him and told him everything I wanted the headstone to say. After he wrote it all down, we went separate ways. I knew I'd be back in order to see how the grave turned out, but that wouldn't be anytime too soon.

I came home and said, “I’m home.” out of reflex. Silence and loneliness were the only things greeting me. I knew that today I'd have to go back to work again, even though I hadn't even slept yet. The thought of that daunted me, that world just kept moving onward even without Grandpa.

I changed into my work clothes and set out to work, taking the same path as always. This time though, I looked at the game store and stopped dead in my tracks.

END

-Haze