One day, you’re driving along with a parent. As you pass a graveyard, they tell you jokingly “Hold your breath, you don’t want any spirits gettin’ in ya!” You roll your eyes and breathe normally, at least until you feel an odd tingling in your lungs. Immediately after, you hear a voice in your head. “Thanks kid, I was getting bored in my grave.”
I was freaking out! I choked back a scream, not wanting to startle my dad. “So, where we off to?” The voice asked. I tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away.
“Come on kid! I’ve been stuck in a grave at a cemetery for years! I’d like to know if I’m going to have fun for once.”
“The beach.” I spoke out loud.
My dad turned to me, “What was that?”
“I, uh, can’t wait to get to the beach. It’ll be nice to have a call afternoon for once.” I spoke nervously. My dad agreed, hopefully not finding anything suspicious. We continued to sit in silence, the only sound coming from the radio… And the voice in my head asking so many questions. I put the music up louder to drown out the voice. Although my dad complained, he didn’t try to lower it.
We finally got to the beach. The parking lot was full so we had to park somewhere else. It was a long walk to the beach, especially with our beach towels, beach umbrellas, and some snacks but it was very much with it. The warm sand felt soft between my toes and the sun to wind ratio was perfect. We found a spot and set out our belongings. The voice was quiet this whole time, I almost believed I was imagining the whole thing. I took a few pictures of the beach and the ocean in front of me.
“Are we going out for a swim?” I jumped. The voice was back. “Do you think you could go far out enough to see fish?!”
“I can’t swim well.” I mumbled. “And, leave me alone. Go back to the cemetery. Get out of my head. I just want a normal day with my dad.”
“Oh.. ok then. I mean, I can’t go back to the cemetery on my own. You’re stuck with me for now, but I’ll just leave you alone I guess.” The voice was quiet the rest of the day. I spent a whole day with my dad and had so much fun, but I couldn’t help but feel sad. No, it was more than just sad, it was loneliness and neglection. I don’t even think these were my emotions.
After we got home, I went to take a shower. It was a good time to try and figure out a way to get this voice out if my head. “How do I get you out of my head?” I asked. There was no reply. I tried once more but still nothing.
“Hey, voice in my head, I’m talking to you. How do I get you out?”
“So now you want to talk with me? Just like my family, if you could even call them that. They only talk to me when they need something- money, a favour, a place to stay- you name it. And when I died, they gave me a half assed funeral and not once did they visit me.”
I was stunned. I had no words. I was sure it was only saying this to make feel bad and apologise but I’m sure this was true.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, whatever. Anyway, of you want to get rid of me just go back to the cemetery and I’ll do the rest.”
I felt awful now. This person was used and then was forgotten just like that. I didn’t want to send them back to the grave like this.
There was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Hello?! Are you done in there? You’ve been in there for almost a half hour!” My dad shouted.
“Almost done!” I called back. I finished showering and got dressed before leaving the bathroom. I raced to my room and shut the door behind me.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“What?” The voice questioned.
“I don’t know your name and I don’t want to keep calling you ‘the voice in my head’, I’ll just sound insane.”
“Holland Barnum.”
“Pleasure to meet you Holland. I’m Grey.”
We talked for a few hours, getting to know each other and talking about how the world is now. For the sake of my dad not thinking I’m crazy, I had to have my phone up to my ear and pretend I was talking on the phone. Holland was pretty cool and had a great sense of humour. It was getting late so I had to sleep. Since Holland was dead, they didn’t need to sleep. It would be a long quiet night for them.
“I guess this’ll be the last time we talk, huh?” I heard them say, but I was too tired to form a complete sentence. All I could muster up was a groan. I knew I couldn’t let them live alone in that grave, not after what they told me.
When morning came, I went about my daily routine. Holland asked me when I was planning to go to the cemetery. “Soon.” I replied. I went out to the park and had a nice stroll. When I came home they asked me again. I replied, “Soon.”
Everyday Holland asked me when I’d go back to the cemetery and everyday I replied with “Soon”. Everyday when I had time to spare, I went out and did something fun. I went to parades, carnivals, circuses, hiking, et cetera. We became good friends and had a great time together.
“When are you planning on going to the cemetery?” Holland asked me once more.
“Soon.” I replied.
Okay I actually really enjoyed that- it leaves you kinda having to guess what the character means by ‘soon’, and I love that. But putting that aside, its just a good lil story to me-
Cute story! Thanks for doing this prompt!
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