Disclaimer: I don't own Stephen King's outstanding novel "Pet Sematary!"
Characters: Louis, his son Gage, his wife Rachel, his good friend Jud Crandall, and his daughter Eileen
Type of Story: Horror, romance, and spiritual
Summary: What if something in Louis' heart caused him to reconsider burying his son Gage up in Little God's Swamp?
Do What Your Heart Tells You, Louis
"Gage, it will be all right; I swear, Gage; it will be all right; this will end; this is just the night; please, Gage; I love you; Daddy loves you," Louis said, rocking his dear little son, his little dead son.
What am I doing? Louis thought. I should know that even if I succeed in burying him without being caught, when he comes back he wouldn't be the way he used to be, considering it wouldn't be his soul that would occupy his body, but a monster's soul…
With these thoughts, Louis Creed put Gage back in the ground, but he didn't rebury him; he needed to be sure it was what he truly wanted.
The door must not be opened, Louis remembered Pascow saying in his frightening premonition that one night. Don't go beyond, no matter how much you feel like you have to, Doctor. The barrier was not made to be broken. Remember this: there is more power here than you know. It is old and always restless. Remember. I come as a friend. Your destruction and the destruction of all you love is very near, Doctor. Doctor—remember!
Was this enough to convince him to just let things be as they are supposed to be? he wondered. He remembered Jud Crandall in his kitchen a few days after Gage's death, that he was saying to the old, wise man, "We're burying Gage tomorrow, in the Bangor. And in the Bangor he'll stay. I don't plan to go up there to the Pet Sematary or beyond it ever again."
"Promise me!" he remembered Jud's response as. "Promise…"
"I promise…"
You do it because it gets hold of you, Louis remembered Jud saying to him once before. You make up reasons…they seem like good reasons…but mostly you do it because once you've been up there, it's your place, and you belong to it…
"Well, I don't belong to it anymore," he declared proudly, aloud to himself.
Plus, Louis thought, how would Rachel and Ellie feel about this? They would certainly notice that something is wrong with Gage being back, even though they'd be happy at first… They would know I had done something, had made the biggest mistake possible, and would figure I did something to Winston Churchill… And right after they'd find out all the things I did, would they still love me? Would Rachel hate me for the things I did while playing with death itself? Would Ellie be frightened of me and realize it was better Church was dead, or blame me for letting him get run over by that truck in the road in the first place? No… I can't do this… My family and I are already going through rough times in our lives; I can't make it worse than it already is... The only thing I should do is help us all through this intense grief we have together… They need me, and I need them…
Louis made a move for his shovel, starting to bury his son again. Even though all his muscles ached from the activity, he buried Gage fully in the dirt, trying to make it look like he hadn't dug the ground as possible as he could.
Louis Creed, I love you… The words his wife had said to him when she said farewell to him at the airport near Thanksgiving repeated in his mind as he looked down at the ground of dirt. "I love you, too, Rachel," were the words he dearly wished he could say to his lover at the moment. "You would've wanted this, wouldn't you, Gage?" Louis asked his son in a whisper. "You would've wanted me to let your body be where it is, to let your soul be the only one to ever occupy it…"
The husband of Rachel Creed, and father of Eileen and Gage, climbed back over the bars of the gate enclosing the cemetery he was in (though with a lot more muscle pain and effort) with his tools, got into his vehicle, and drove home, knowing he finally did the right thing…
"You would've all wanted me to do this," he said aloud to the full moon outside his window, "and I did… And I would never break my promise to you, Jud..." Louis was falling into a joyful sleep, knowing he had done the right thing possible, that he was doing what his heart told him to do, that he had resisted the evil power that lured him to bury his beloved son near Little God's Swamp. That's what everyone has to do despite reality, he thought. You must do what your heart tells you, no matter how much you want loved ones back… He fell asleep, a happy, content, and satisfied smile inching across his face.
And Pascow told Ellie everything would be all right as her father slept in a premonition. Jud Crandall caught nothing in the wind that was a sign that something was wrong miraculously. Rachel felt nothing either, turning her vehicle around to go back to her daughter, knowing everything was fine, that the love of her life had made the right decision for himself, for them, that he had done what his heart told him to do…
Author's Note: Do you like it? I often thought about creating and sharing you all this! It's my first shot at "Pet Sematary!" I tried to capture Louis' character as best I could! Tell me what you think! Oh, and please don't flame me! I love this fic!