Midnight Graveyard Walk

Last night I was walking to my old home and decided to take a short cut past the cemetery. Three girls walked up to me and said that they were really scared to walk past the cemetery at night because they were afraid of ghosts, so I agreed to let them walk with me.

I then turned and said to them “I understand, I used to get freaked out too, when I was still alive.” I’ve never seen anyone run so fast.

The next night, I had decided to take the same route past the cemetery to visit my old home. As I approached the entrance of the cemetery, the same three girls approached me.

“I thought you were afraid of ghosts,” I teased.

“You were kidding, right? You must have been,” one of the girls said. I chuckled.

They seemed anxious and frightened, their eyes darting nervously in all directions.

“It’s ok, you don’t have to be so uneasy. Relax, I’ll keep you girls safe. No ghosts will harm you, not while I’m here. Just stick with me!” I said.

One of the girls smiled, then started to talk. Her voice was quivering and lugubrious as she said "So it’s ok if we walk with you, kind sir. We really are scared to walk past the cemetery, especially at night. Would it be alright if you accompanied us until were out of here. And are you really a g-g-ghost, or was that a joke? I really need to know," One of the girls asked.

“Yes,” was my answer.

“Y-y-yes?” The girl muttered.

“Come on Tina, relax. He’s clearly joking. He means it’s ok that we walk with him. Ghosts aren’t real. And even if they were, they’re invisible. We can see this guy,” another girl said.

“So, your Tina. Who are your friends?” I asked.

“I’m Miranda. And that’s Lin, she rarely speaks,” the second one said

“I’m Patrick Gaughan,” I said.

“Nice to meet you, Patrick,” Tina said. I smiled and nodded.

“Can I ask you something?” Tina asked.

“Sure, go ahead,” I said.

“What’s with the uniform? I’ve never seen anyone wear one like that. Are you security or something? It looks really old fashioned, you might want to call the security company and have them update your style,” Tina asked.

“No, I’m not security. I fought in a war a very long time ago. Now I sleep in this uniform, and wear it everyday,” I said.

“Doesn’t it get dirty?” Lin asked.

“Nope, the ‘dirt’ just rolls right off when I sit up,” I said.

“What war did you fight in?” Tina asked.

“A very uncivil one. Everyone called it civil at the time, though,” I said.

“Who calls a war civil?” Tina asked.

Miranda and Lin exchanged puzzled glances.

“He means he fought in the civil war, Tina. Another joke, I’m assuming. Nobody from the civil war is alive today,” Miranda said.

“Yah, Tina. Get a clue,” Lin said.

“Hey, don’t be mean to Tina. She’s your friend. Apologize,” I said.

“Sorry, Tina,” Miranda said and rolled her eyes. Lin just grunted.

“And I never said I was alive,” I said and chuckled softly, remembering being disrespectful to my own friends in my youth. If I had been nicer, I might still have some friends today to wander the cemetery with.

As we ventured deeper into the eldritch and foggy cemetery, the moonlight glimmered off the gravestones and the hoot of a loud owl echoed. This caused the girls to jump then cling to one another and slow down, their steps becoming hesitant and cautious.

“Don’t worry. The owl isn’t going to eat you. It eats mice,” I assured them.

“If you say so, Patrick,” Tina said and they started walking a little faster.

“Well, I told you about myself. Tell me about you three,” I said in an attempt to break the tension.

“We wanted to make a viral video so we could be popular in school. We figured if we caught a real ghost on tape, it would get hits,” Tina said.

“Yah, and we figured what better place to spot a ghost then a graveyard,” Miranda said.

“Yah, graveyards are cool,” Lin said.

“Yet you’re afraid of ghosts. So how would you film one without running away? And I thought you said they were invisible, Miranda?” I asked.

“They… they are invisible. Invisible to the naked eye. Cameras can see things we can’t and record them,” Miranda said.

“I see,” I said.

We walked a little further and I said, “We’re almost at the end of the graveyard and I don’t think you’ve recorded any ghosts. Good luck recording one next time, if you ever come back here,” I said and smiled.

“Oh, we’ll be back,” Tina said and smiled.

“You’re brave girls,” I said.

We reached the far end of the cemetery, and our walk was over. The girls, no longer scared, thanked me for the escort.

“Thank you for keeping us safe. We’ll definitely catch a ghost tomorrow,” Tina said.

“You’re very kind,” Miranda said and waved to me.

Lin just grunted and gave me a half smile.

Tina turned to me, smiled and said “Last night when you made the comment, ‘when I was alive,’ you really did convince us that you were a ghost,” I said.

“Hey, I was just being honest,” I said, shrugged and smiled. Tina laughed, as if I was making another joke.

They continued to head home, and I had just gotten to mine. It was time for be to get back into my grave and rest for the day. I should have shown them my power to turn invisible, or instantly travel from one location to another. Then they would have seen I was really a ghost. Oh well, I can always do that tomorrow night when they return to record a ghost, I’ll tell them they can record me. I’d love to be the reason they go viral, whatever that means. This would be my repayment for them being the first people to talk to me since I died at the battle of Union Square Hill. Then maybe they could explain to me what going viral means. And then maybe they’d also come visit me more often. I got back in my coffin happy, feeling grateful to have found three new friends.