It was a full moon tonight. Bright and bearing down on all of this earth, at least on this side of the earth. This moment in time they took the opportunity to scurry in the dark. Mindful not to slip or trip on anything, any obstacle in the dark. Up and over the short wire fence that surrounded the cemetary. The old cemetary that had bones of folks older than the civil war. They had not cared and respect was not their thing at all. Instead, they used this opportunity to dig up one of the freshest graves just to see if they can do it.

Jack and Jill dressed all in black to submit to a deed that no one in their right mind would perform. Jill wore her negro turtle neck, dark gray jeans with stretch factor and her black winter leather gloves for good measure. She wasn’t about to get caught, for no one, not even for Jack. Jack on the other hand just wore a black round neck, long sleeve shirt and black baggy jeans off his ass. Fortunately, his drawers were dark gray. The moonlight was bright…but they managed to move accordingly to find their prize.

The dig began and at first they were digging fast and furiously, eventually they slowed after they hit 4 feet deep. They finally hit on wood with a bang and thump. They both looked at each other in this deep hole, the resting place of someone’s momma, father or something or another. They had not cared. Jill stopped to complain about smelling her own breath under the ski mask that they wore. Jack didn’t care. He was much more concerned about having less than 5 hours before the school bus picked him up from the subdivision.

Finally, they hit a bottom of this hole and now to review their find. Jill took out her small and lean flashlight and shone it on whatever it was that they hit. Jack lifted his ski mask and muttered something under his breath. Jack told Jill, “you jump out and I’ll look. We both can’t be on top of this thing when I try to open it.” Jill as athletic as she was, took time to get up and over, then out the grave. Jack turned and continued with the plan. He took the crowbar from his step-dad and continued to prod and lift the opening of the coffin. While he attacked the coffin, Jill knelt at the edge of the grave watching as Jack fought with the coffin. Jill called out, low but forceful, “Jack hurry up! This is taking too long for you to pull a bone…” Jack kept on prodding and grunting as he worked hard to open the treasure chest, someone’s coffin.

The moon was still and lit and rounded as they continued on their quest. Jill still knelt at the mouth of the grave and Jack was still grunting and prodding. Suddenly, their was a sound of shuffling above and some dirt hit his head and back. Jack looked up to see a large mass coming down towards him. The mass came down so hard and fast that he couldn’t get out of the way before it fell on top of him. When he was finally hit, he was pinned down on the coffin that he tried to brake into. I guess this means he wasn’t successful. He was a little conscious when he thought of how funny it is that he tried to open this coffin but instead he is on top of it.

Jill came to consciousness after and screamed to the top of her lungs. Dirt was falling all around them, large bulks of the same dirt they dug out of this hole. Her sight was blurry and she tried to look up at the opening of the hole. The dirt was in her eyes and she could smell the decay in the dirt. It made her scream more, Jack beneath her body. He was knocked out cold when she fell on him. She screamed his name but he had not answered…The hole was getting darker now. The Dirt all around them and at this point, only her head was visible to her eyes. She looked around and it was mostly covered in dirt now. She passed out. When she came back to consciousness, she was inhaling dirt. Her muffled screams was dull and almost mute now. Her head was submersed in the burial dirt. She had not seen who threw her in the hole. She just felt a push and then she was here, in the hole. She could hardly breath now. Thinking about Jack being under her. Hoping he isn’t dead. Hoping they can get out of here. Hoping someone can find them…But no one knows they are here. She cried, but couldn’t feel the moisture of her tears pass her lashes. The earth absorbed and owned it now. The darkness behind her eyes is all there was. Suffocating slowly and slipping into a damning abyss.

Disclaimer: This short narrative was created and inspired by a small idea. All photography or original art for this post was created by Juana M. Gumbs, AKA HetHeru. Thank you so much for your support. Please like, comment, criticize, make suggestions or say “hi”.

This is an original short story imagined, created and copyrighted in 2019 by Juana M. Gumbs. All rights are reserved by her.