Children of Stone -- An Excerpt

by Tina Jens

My parents kept me from children who were rough
Who threw words like stones and who wore torn clothes

-- Stephen Spender

Anna Louisa and Kenneth ran out of the house, letting the back door slam. They dodged around the first row of tombstones that sat just a few yards beyond their swing set, and headed up the hill.

They were arguing about the new statue as they jogged along the border of the winding road that led into the heart of the cemetery. But they stopped suddenly. Not two yards in front of them sat a girl perched atop a tombstone, singing and swinging her legs in time to the music.

The girl was sitting on Elizabeth Fromlich's tombstone. Born 1882 – Died 1894. It was the great-aunt of the man who made the statues and carved the tombstones for father.

The girl was dressed funny, in a beige wool skirt and a long blousey top that came almost down to her knees. She looked like she had walked out of Grammy's scrapbook, right down to her black, button-hook shoes.

"I don't think it's very nice of you to sit on that little girl's stone, "Anna told her. "What's your name?"

The girl giggled and hopped off the tombstone. "You should call me Lizzie, and I don't think she minds." She dropped a mock curtsy to Kenneth, and said, "Want to go meet the new girl?"

Kenneth shyly took her outstretched hand.

Anna Louisa stared as they waltzed up the path, swinging their arms wide. She ran after the other two.

They rounded the long mausoleum that held the remains of those who were cremated. Lizzie led as they threaded their way through the tombstones. Anna didn't like it; after all, it was their cemetery.

At last they came to the brick walkway that led to the garden of statues. The garden held only the graves of children, each was marked with a statue, rather than a traditional tombstone. Most of the statues were children, but there were some angels, and an odd assortment of gargoyles, all cut to the finest detail in bronze and stone.

Anna Louisa didn't like the gargoyles and angels much. The angels just stood their stiffly, arms held out, stiffly. The gargoyles were hunched down, squatting on their pedestals. But the children were alive! It was like Mr. Fromlich had poured the mold over a bunch of kids at play. Anna liked to pretend she was playing with them. Some were very old, dating back to the late eighteen-hundreds. Others had been erected just this year.

Lizzie stopped in front of the newest statue and made a wide, sweeping bow. "Allow me to introduce Katie." Lizzie's eyes danced, daring them to contradict her.

"That's not her name," Anna protested. She read the plaque aloud, "Ruth Ester Swanson. Beloved daughter. 1981-1988."

Kenneth stood quietly examining the statue, then reached out to stroke the face of the stone girl. "Not Ruth. Katie," he said.

#

It was still early in October; the trees in the cemetery had turned to bright red, but enough had dropped their leaves that the children could make loud scrunchy sounds as they marched about the tombstones.

Kenneth looked for Lizzie every day after studies, Anna trailing behind him. She would never tell them where she lived. Sometimes they would come upon her sitting on Elizabeth Fromlich's tombstone, or find her talking to the statues in the garden. But many days she was nowhere to be found. Anna Louisa didn't mind. When they did find Lizzie, they only played the games she wanted to play. Anna liked to swing on the swing on the swing set, but the older girl refused to go so close to the house. Instead, they would play Follow the Leader, winding about the tombstones, or Leapfrog, jumping over the markers.

But today, Lizzie had let Kenneth pick the game. He wanted to play Legion and shoot a make-believe 21-gun salute, like the soldiers had done over one of the graves last year. They were hunting under the oak tress, looking for sticks suitable for rifles.

Anna Louisa had wandered away, father up the hill where the graves and trees were older and she could find a better stick. It was darker up here, and colder...

If you'd like to read the rest of the story, you can order the book Book of Dead Things from Twilight Tales or order Cemetery Sonata II from your local bookstore.

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