The ground was hot and dry. It was humid out and the sweat stuck to her skin. Her hair was wet and the backside of her shirt was damp. Her long ponytail reached to her waist.
She walked casually off the sidewalk, arms swinging lazily. Her sandals crunched the gravel underneath. She enjoyed the sound, slowing her steps to listen more carefully.
It was nighttime; a clear sky with no clouds or stars. She never saw the stars. She never saw the clouds. But she saw the Darkness.
She walked away from the block and turned left on
When she passed the old man’s house, she slowly walked to the bushes and went down the hidden path in the woods. She erupted in an overgrowth. Walking carefully, Atari came up to a patch of grass that was mowed and nicely kept.
“I’ll have to finish the trail before I lose it,” she said out loud. She walked down the neat trail and came to an old iron gate. She opened it up and closed it quietly behind her.
Atari had entered an old, old graveyard. The graves she kept shiny and clean, the grass as well, which was newly cut. She sighed and smiled, walking to the nearest gravestone and running her fingers lightly over the top.
She heard someone whisper, and she chuckled in the still air, full of unknown beings.
The graveyard stretched far into the woods, the rocks and moss forming the fence around it. It went all the way into the dark ahead of her.
“I can’t very well walk on all this new grass, now can I?” she said with a short laugh. The wind whispered an agreement.
She climbed up onto the nearest grave after slipping her sandals off. She felt the smooth, cool sensation under her feet. She laughed, looking down below.
“This is as close to the sky as I can get, it seems. Not even standing on the
Closer to what? something whispered.
She paused. “I’ve… forgotten. But I know I want to be closer to it.”
She skipped to the next grave, being careful not to fall off, and blew a kiss to the last grave. Someone laughed.
Atari skipped from one stone to the next, remembering the textures. Some were smooth and cool, others scratchy and warm. A few of them were even slippery.
“Sailor’s out unto the dock,
Buried in the land too soon,
Tick tock away the clock,
Instead of falling in water at
She entered the darkness, unafraid, with laughing ghosts all around. The light of the moon peered through the forest canopy, shining light onto the last grave.
Atari paused and stepped off the grave she was standing on. She looked at the last grave. It was white marble, in the best condition, as if it had been just put in. She’d never seen that grave before…
She approached it cautiously, looking at what it said. She ran her fingers over it slowly, getting a feel for it. It didn’t feel like any of the graves she knew.
“If you have questions, I suggest you ask,” said a voice. Atari jumped, looking around. She peered around the large grave’s corner, and saw a boy leaning against it. He had jet black hair, dark glasses, and wore an all black outfit. She looked him up and down.
“Who are you?” she whispered frightfully. “I didn’t…” she swallowed. “I didn’t know anyone knew about this place…”
He lazily stood up straight, hands in his pockets. He approached Atari.
“You don’t seem to notice a lot,” he said. Atari glanced at him and then the grave. She turned back to him and asked, “When did this get here?”
The boy smiled. “It’s the oldest one here.” He extended his hand. “I’m Eli.” Atari reluctantly took his hand and shook it.
“Atari.”
Eli nodded and turned away, looking into the darkness. “You came from… over there, Atari?”
She nodded. “I did. And you came from where?”
“Nowhere.”
Atari paused. “And that’s true, isn’t it?” Eli glanced back at her over his shoulder. He nodded slightly. “It is.”
He turned around and they looked at each other.
“You’re a ghost,” Atari announced suddenly. Eli’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He stuffed his hands back into his pockets and lifted his shoulders to his neck, as if he were cold.
“I’d like to go somewhere else.”
Atari gasped and hid behind the large grave, peering at him. “How can that be?! Ghosts can’t… they can’t…” She looked at her right hand in horror, then back at Eli.
Eli took his sunglasses off, showing her his empty, dark blue eyes. “We can’t what?” he whispered dangerously.
She shook her head. “In the stories… they always say… they always say that… that ghosts can’t touch people… not the living…”
“Then they must have their stories wrong,” he said as he approached her. He grabbed the back of her neck gently, and made her show herself to him. He rubbed her neck so she would relax.
He looked at her. “Who is he?” Eli asked.
“Who is who?” she replied.
“The boy. The one you’re in love with. What makes him so special?”
“I… I remember you,” she murmured, her eyes half-closed.
He smiled down at her. “I was hoping you would.”
She looked up at him and tears filled her eyes. “Eli, where’d you go?”
“Some place you’ll never visit, that’s where.”
“Did you go into the Darkness?”
Eli paused for a moment, thinking. He made his grip on her neck tighter and sat her down on the edge of the grave. He let go slowly, letting his fingers trail over her jaw. He licked his lips.
“Yes. The Darkness. I went there.”
“Was it horrible?”
He paused again. “No. It wasn’t horrible.” He smiled, remembering.
“Then what was it?”
“It was… magical. Weird. It was so odd… it was… it was twisted. And yet it was the more beautiful thing I had ever seen.” He looked down at her, at her crazy, fogged eyes, her pouty lips, her arched eyebrows. “It was twisted and beautiful, just like you, Atari.”
Atari let out a breath, looking at the ground. “Eli, you leaving me was horrible.”
“I know it was, but aren’t you relieved?”
Atari smiled up at him. “I thought I would be, but too bad I was broken instead,” she whispered. “Eli… why did you ask me that?”
“Ask you what?”
“About yourself. About why you’re special.”
“I’d like to know,” he said as he bent and kissed her softly on the lips. A small blue spark appeared between them, but was gone when Eli pulled away.
“Eli. I wish you hadn’t left.”
“Why?” he asked, stroking her cheek, looking concerned.
She looked at the ground, thinking. “Around you I could be myself… but I’ve… Eli,” she looked up at him desperately with her insane gray eyes. “I’ve forgotten everything. I’ve forgotten why you left. I’ve forgotten how you died. I’ve forgotten who… who I am inside.”
© Emily McDurman