Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I don't even own the pen I used to write this.
The Country of Lights Arc
A Story of Everlasting Love
"And they never saw each other again, but they wrote love letters for nearly forty years, until his death. She died less than a year after he did.¹"
For once, Hermes was silent.
Kino and Hermes continued their way along the wide cobblestone path through the cemetery. Orange leaves crunched underfoot and under-tire as Kino wheeled Hermes past grave after grave. Some markers were large and elaborate while others weren't anything more than a simple stone bearing a name and date of death. The ancient and famous were mixed with the modern and already forgotten.
The two travelers stopped in front of a large stone slab that was as long and wide as a casket and nearly a meter tall. It was black and stately in its simplicity. Kino reached out a hand reverently and traced the name with her finger.
"Who was she?" Hermes asked.
"She was a writer- and a stranger to this country."
"Well, I've never heard of her. She must not have been all that famous," Hermes complained.
When Kino rested Hermes on his kickstand, the motorad knew they wouldn't go anywhere until Kino was satisfied that they had spent enough time paying their respect.
"I'm not being punished for not knowing who she was, am I?"
Instead of answering, Kino left the path and stood on the patch of grass beside the writer's grave, without taking her eyes off it. A small plaque nearly obscured by grass marked the patch as another grave.
"Kino! What are you doing? Your disrespect is enough to wake the dead!"
Kino smiled minutely, then explained. "The grave I'm standing on belongs to the writer's lover. She lived alone for three decades after the writer's death. She was true until the day she died."
"Yes, that's very touching," Hermes interrupted, "but that doesn't explain why you're standing on top of her."
"In her will, she requested to be buried like this, so that others would have to stand on her to see the woman she loved. ²"
Hermes was deep in thought while Kino returned to the path and began wheeling Hermes toward the gate.
"Hey, Kino…" Hermes started.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry I doubted you. I didn't understand."
"Don't worry about it."
A gust of cool wind stirred the leaves and tousled Kino's hair. It brought the noise of the city that lay just outside the walls toward them.
"It's a big cemetery. Wouldn't it be faster to ride to the gate?"
Kino laughed at Hermes' impatience. "We mustn't wake the dead."
¹ This is the story of Heloise and Abelard. Abelard was a teacher and Catholic priest during the Middle Ages. Heloise was his student. They fell in love, and slept together. Abelard was castrated by Heloise's brothers. Abelard returned to teaching, and Heloise became a nun. Kino picks up the story from there. They are buried at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
² The writer is Gertrude Stein and her lover is Alice B. Toklas. They are buried at Père Lachaise cemetery. Alice's grave is covered with a green plastic shield so that no one stands on it.