Sudden Darkness

Written By: Sarah Toms

The moonlight barely was showing between the thicknesses of the clouds, another funeral was being held at the Morgue in Wessington County. The bare trees whipped their sharp branches in the cold wind. A wind that howled in the darkness, in a town that had once been the place of prosperity and peace was not the center of death and poverty. A dark figure stood against the equally dark tree, out of the soft whimpers and howls of the wind came a loud voice. The voice of the priest that had seen one too many of these deaths and had now learned the speech by heart. "We are gathered here today on this dreadful night to acknowledge the passing of Ruth Becking. The suddenness of her death will be distressing to all of those who held her close to their hearts." The casket was slowly brought to the opening in the ground, where so many innocent people had been buried over the years. The fine wooden casket was then lowered into the small rectangular opening in the ground. The sides of the box brushed against the damp sides of the hole. The priest then began again, "Here is the final resting place for her body and soul and we hope that she will be eternally free and never again deal with the pains of death and sickness. As he finished the last of his words the casket was fully incased in the ground and was covered slightly with dirt. He slowly walked away from the burial site and back to the old station wagon he had came in. Only a few stayed and mourned over the woman's death and even those who did stay only did so for a few minutes, for they had many more things to attend to at their homes. The last of the families quietly crawled into their cars; the parents wrapping up their children in the backseat and watching them doze off. The grave was silent and the wind's howls began to die and fade into the dark.