Cemetery Voices

Clarity of Night writing prompt:

(Photo from Clarity of Night website)

Inscription: LOUISA E. - Wife of JAMES BURHAMS - Died July 22, 1854 - A. 25 yrs 11 ms & 25 ds. (Featured on this stone: A beautiful rendition of weeping willow symbolism, signifying loss, sadness, and grief.)

CEMETERY REFLECTIONS: What would the sleeping generations tell us about living? What would we go back and tell ourselves?

~Pain is the friction of life moving forward. But I don't know yet how to embrace it. Or whether we're supposed to embrace it at all.

CEMETERY VOICES

They call to us from the depth of past
Breathless family, friends and foes
Gone away from earthly days
Existing in barren calm

What would they say, if they could speak to us
Would they approve of this harsh new world
Or would they happily blend with us
To capture the times gone by

I wonder if they understand
All the changes going on
Or are they fixed in time and space
Lifelessness n'er to age or grow

Familiar whispers on bated breath
Try to reach my ears
Cemetery voices from my distant past
Call to calm my fears

.

Jade's Ascension

The "Ascension" Short Fiction Contest.

JADE'S ASCENSION

Jade looked at the worn journal with envy and awe. Ten years of observations - it couldn’t possibly be over, could it? She knew today would eventually come, but she was not ready for the swiftness, or the emotions choking through her brain.

For 10 years now, she knew this would be the final year. No more friendship, no more love, no more anything on this third rock from the Sun. Ten years, this was all she had been given. At the time Jade made the deal, 10 years seemed like an eternity, but it had passed in the blink of an eye.

How could she leave her new home? How could she survive the rest of her life without the new friends, new love she had found on this alien planet?

Jade’s eyes filled with tears as she picked up the journal and bid her new life goodbye. It was 3 am and she stood in the empty mall, remembering how strange this place had seemed on her first visit. As she started up the silent escalator, she wondered if Earth would ever be the same.

Although the Earthlings had never truly accepted her pale green skin or her black almond eyes, she had no trouble fitting in when dressed in blue jeans and a button down shirt. Standing on a step near the middle of the escalator, Jade waited for the transmission that would send her home - the transmission that would end all life on Earth.

(249 words)
(This is the continuation of a story previously started for a Redbubble Challenge)