A Short Story:It was a dark and stormy Night.

Note: This is just a short story written by me for one of the contests held in my office.

It was a dark and stormy night, I was told not to come here, I was brave, I was proud, and I was foolish. "Romi, you are a jerk!” I told to myself. As I walked among the dead, my heart constantly beat hard. All the graves were looking right into my soul.

In the distance on one of the graves, I saw an old man, with a tea kettle in the middle of the night and he seemed unfazed by the stormy weather and the strong winds. I went to him slowly trying not to disturb him. I went closer; I was looking at him, wondering what to say. "Hi Romi", he said without moving a muscle. This was really weird, and it scared the daylights out of me.

"How do you know my name?” I asked still trembling, if it was some other pleasant place or time, I wouldn't have been so scared. "Will you have some tea?” he asked. It was cold I was trembling; something inside me didn't allow me to say no. He handed me a hot cup.

I had a small sip, gulped it down my throat and continued, "Who are you? How do you know my name and what are you doing here?" He was still, he moved his wrinkled hands took a sip and continued, "I am the Grave Guard, I protect and save the Souls of the graves here, as for your name, weren't you speaking to yourself a little while ago?" Okay so he might have listened to me, besides it was very much silent here except for some noises the winds were making. “The protector of the souls. Eh?” I grinned. This old man was definitely mad. "So what are you doing here right now?" "Celebrating", he replied. "Celebrating what? That too in the graveyard", I enquired.He took a sip, "Well, we celebrate here every night after a new member is added to the family." "Oh. Ok. So u celebrate here every night a new grave is dug, right? Is that what you are implying?" He nodded his head in confirmation."Hmm... Cool, nice, some party eh? Nice tea by the way, really feels good." He shook his hand in a way which sort of meant, THANKS NOT REQUIRED.

Man this was really cool, a cup of tea with an old madman, in the middle of the graveyard. Talk of awesomeness. I'll have a good tale to tell of, when I get back to my hostel.

I gulped down the tea to the last drop, stood up and thanked the old man again for the tea. Out of curiosity I asked him, "So is this the grave, the reason for your celebrations today?"

He nodded confirmatively. "And can I have a look at the grave of our guest of honor?” he nodded again. I started to read out, "and I quote, R.I.P REST IN Peace, our beloved son, he will be remembered by all us here, you will be missed. Romi Samuel Abraham."

I stopped. I moved around and saw hands coming out of the ground, with their palms facing me. They moved, the old man stood and opened his arms, "Welcome", he said with a sudden smile on his face. One of the hands on the ground caught hold of my leg, and started pulling me inside.

I resisted, lost my balance during the struggle and fell face down on the ground. All the hands started pulling me in; the ground opened and was sucking me in like a quicksand. "No! No! Leave me, help!!" I shouted in despair.

And finally with one last pull I was submerged within the dust.

THE END