The Elevator in the Graveyard
A routine morning walk turns into a life changing experience.
Written by Peter Spout
2019 All rights reserved. For personal reading and enjoyment only
Part of the World of Entopia Short Story Series
2019 All rights reserved. For personal reading and enjoyment only
Part of the World of Entopia Short Story Series
On a Monday morning, I set off on a walk for exercise. I decided to head North West today, toward a graveyard only ten minutes away. There is a path that goes through two separate graveyards.
As I write this, it dawns on me that I actually have three graveyards close to where I live, all owned by separate companies.
This paved path created on top of old railroad tracks, runs through two graveyards and is traveled by others as a recreational bike and walking path.
I don’t think people think much of either graveyard when passing through. In fact, I have taken photos of trees and even a gravestone or two over my travels through there.
Today, I walked through and exited into a neighborhood and then small businesses on a busy street.
After thirty minutes, I decided to turn around and head back home. As I approached the rear of one graveyard, I started to travel along the rear of it until I reached the midway point. Today, I decided, I will turn into the graveyard and head into it toward the front, instead of continuing to the path that goes in between both.
I started making my way through and looked at many of the old gravestones and noticed how so many were of different sizes and shapes. It was obvious that some have paid more for their loved one's grave markers. I guess this was to show more love or draw more attention.
Funny, as I wrote this, my right thumb and surrounding area on my hand started to itch, and I had to keep scratching it, really digging into it with my nails.
Anyway, as I continued my walk through this graveyard, I could hear the cars zooming by in front of me and to the right toward that busy road of businesses I just came from.
But as I walked on, I seemed to be the same distance to the right, front and rear as I was just five minutes ago. Yet, everything around me kept changing as I walked. Each gravestone would be seen in the distance and get closer and closer, and then it went past me.
I kept walking and even stopped to take a few pictures of a couple of unique gravestones and markers I saw along the way.
My camera on my phone was loading really slowly, ever since the new software update.
I kept walking for a while, but it seemed I was much further away from home than the fifteen minutes I felt I should be.
Clouds started blocking the morning sun, casting eerie darkness over the graveyard. I thought to myself “this is starting to become a dark novel.”
There were so many dead trees with no leaves just standing all around me. The typical black crows would talk to each other, as I believe they were talking about me.
Even with the distant sound of the cars, my cell phone ringing startled me. I looked at the number but didn’t recognize it. “If I don’t see a name appear of someone I know, it must be a solicitor,” I thought. So, I let it go to voicemail. Thirty seconds later, my phone made the notification that I did receive a voicemail. I looked at my phone again and started to listen to the voicemail. At first, I didn’t hear any voice, which is not unusual for many who wish to talk to you and not leave a message. Sometimes, the message is just background noise, like they didn’t hang up right away. But this message had no voice, but I did pick something up. I listened to it again, this time I held it up to my ear. It sounded like someone walking, and occasionally stepping on dead leaves as they did so.
“That’s weird,” I thought. “Maybe it was a wrong number or someone 'butt dialed me.'”
The clouds in the sky were getting thicker and the area, which was full of 9:00 AM sunshine, now had the appearance resembling a rainstorm approaching, or it was getting close to being late in the day.
I didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting closer to the street in front of me. The cars passing sound was now very faint. “Should I turn back and head out of here?” I thought. This was getting eerier by the minute.
Ahead, I could start to see a small building with what seemed like a worker outside of it doing some kind of activity. “Maybe that is a maintenance building or something.” But as I got closer, the worker went around back, and I didn’t see him again.
As the building got closer, it also got smaller. Instead of a maintenance building, it was more like a brick shed. The birds kept talking, and the gravestones kept passing me by, I could no longer hear the cars, and there was little light.
I approached the brick building and noticed it was not what I thought it was. I stopped fifteen feet from it and couldn’t believe what I was looking at. “What the heck is this?!”
It was an elevator. An actual elevator. “What the heck? Who would put an elevator in the middle of a graveyard?” I said out loud.
This was probably the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen. I was totally perplexed. I mean, this whole experience now was from a movie, or at least it should be. And now I have this elevator in front of me. I mean, where could this thing actually go? There was obviously no second floor, so It could only go, oh, no way, down?
Just then, the elevator doors opened. It was lit inside and empty.
“What should I do? Should I get on? I feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere. I obviously can’t run anywhere. Should I call someone? Who?” I thought.
Was this an elevator that would take me underground to my death or was it to hell?
Then, my phone rang again, and I jumped! “Holy shit!” I yelled. I looked at the number, and this time it said, “Unknown.”
I started having all these thoughts run through my head. My wife, she was at work. My daughter was at school: my dad, our cat. Now I was getting really scared.
Here I am, in the middle of this graveyard, in what seems like some kind of alternate universe. All I was doing was getting a little exercise, and now I have this elevator in a graveyard in front of me with the doors opened, and my phone ringing.
My heart and mind were racing, and then I heard the voicemail alert on my phone again. Truthfully, I was hesitant to listen to it. I did listen to it, but wished I didn’t.
Part 2
The message from the unknown caller was someone I used to know many years ago. A neighbor of mine. He used to live next door to my wife and me when we lived in a mobile home park, the second place we lived.
A few years after we moved to our current home, I sort of lost touch with him. He was an elderly man I used to visit and smoke a little marijuana and have a few beers in the evening with. We would watch our local pro baseball team on TV and talk crap about all of our neighbors and what they were doing.
His name was Clarence. I know I should have kept in touch because I knew he was lonely and didn’t have anyone to talk too. His female friend was found on her kitchen floor by one of her family members. She died of an insulin issue because she was diabetic and didn’t take good care of her blood sugar.
But I moved on. My daughter was born, and I really felt it wasn’t my scene anymore. I was a dad now and had evolved. I couldn’t just sit and watch baseball anymore. I tried going over once, but man, going back to that mobile home park was now depressing. Heck, I lived in a home now.
The message Clarence left was, “Alex, this is Clarence. I know you have been busy. You haven’t visited me in over twenty years. Can you visit me now? If you can, take the elevator down to see me.”
“Oh, crap! This is F**ked up!!” I said out loud. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE??” I screamed!
I tried dialing 911, but my phone displayed, “no service.” I couldn’t hear anything around me. No cars, no birds. It was if I was out in the middle of a darkened forest. My mind was racing, and I thought about every person I knew and everything I could do. But nobody could hear me now. I was petrified. Where would this elevator go? Would I ever come back? What about my wife and daughter?
I started to pray, just standing within feet of the elevator. “Lord, please help me!” I said out loud.
I turned around and started to run in the opposite direction. But I felt like I was running in slow motion. I couldn’t get any speed. I was so tired and felt weak. After about ten minutes, I just collapsed on the ground. When I turned around to see how far I’ve gotten, I couldn’t believe it! The elevator was still only about fifteen feet away.
I just sat there on the ground for a while longer. But for some reason, I knew I had no choice. Since I couldn’t go anywhere and couldn’t get any help, I decided to enter the elevator. After all, if this was to be my end, it was to be. I have never been so scared in all my life. I knew there was no begging for mercy or anything else. I could just stand there for as long as I liked, but I didn’t feel anything was going to change.
I only wish I could say goodbye to my beautiful wife and daughter. They loved me so much! We are a small but tight family. “My God, please give me more time!” I screamed while crying.
What will they do? I know how much they will miss me. My dad, he will soon need me as he gets older. What have I done with my life? All these thoughts and feelings kept washing over me. I couldn’t keep going on like this. It was too overwhelming. I needed to end it now!
I stood up, brushed myself off and started to walk toward the elevator slowly. I was about two feet from the opening when my phone rang again. I looked at the screen, and it was my wife calling. I tried to answer it, but I couldn’t. My phone just wouldn’t work. The phone kept ringing, and I just watched it. Finally, the ringing stopped, and I knew she would leave a voicemail. After a minute, I heard the voicemail notification. I was now able to get to the voicemail and listen to her message.
“Hi sweetie, I was calling to see how you were doing. I’m at lunch. Hope you’re doing well. Call me if you can. I have about ten minutes left. If not, I’ll call you after school. Talk to you later. Love you!”
I stood there and just sobbed. “Oh darling, I wish so bad to be with you now! I’m so scared!” I whispered.
I had resigned myself to the fact that this was probably it. That was the last time I would hear my wife’s voice. Now, it was time for me to do what I didn’t want. To do something I had no intention of doing today.
I wiped my eyes for the last time and stepped forward into the elevator. I turned around to face where I once was, and the elevator doors slowly shut. Then the elevator started moving, down, of course. It moved slowly and shook a little. I could hear a creak or two as we moved.
Then, it stopped. The ride only took about ten seconds and didn’t feel like we went far at all. The elevator just sat there for nearly a minute, then the doors finally opened.
I couldn’t see very much, because it was so dark. I was terrified, but also accepting that what was to be, was to be. I slowly walked forward off the elevator and then stood there looking around. From what I could see, it seemed like I was only ten feet or so below the ground because it looked like there were passageways between where people were buried. Everything was dirt. The ground, ceiling, walls. I didn’t know which way to go, and I could only see so many feet in front of me no matter which way I looked. The only light was from the elevator behind me.
Then I heard the voice of my old neighbor Clarence. “Hey Alex, I’m down here. Walk forward.”
That was him alright. I started walking toward where I heard his voice, and as I did, it got darker and darker. As I kept walking, I couldn’t see anything in front of me and had to put my right hand out to touch the dirt wall as I walked to keep my bearings. It soon became pitch black. As I went on, I could feel roots and rocks in the dirt wall. I was absolutely petrified!
Was I being led to my death? What was going to happen? I thought.
I stopped for a moment, afraid to go any further. Then I heard his voice again. “I’m right down here to the right. Just a little further,” he said.
I continued walking. My knees were buckling from the pure fright I was experiencing. I felt like I was in hell. Boy, I must have really messed up. I thought I was doing pretty decent as a Christian. I guess the mistakes I made in the past were just too great.
As I kept walking, I could start to see some flickering light. The closer I got, the brighter the flickering light became. It appeared to be the flickering light you would see from a TV in a room. I could start to hear some sound too. As I got even closer, the sound reminded me of a baseball game being played on TV. And then, there I was. I reached it. I looked into the room to my right, which was about the size of a small living room. The TV was playing a baseball game, and there was Clarence sitting in his old chair watching it with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.
He turned away from the TV and looked at me and said, “How the hell are you?! It took you long enough!”
“I’m doing OK Clarence.” My voice was trembling, and my knees were still shaking. But for some reason, I felt a little better now that I was here.
“Grab a beer in the fridge and have a seat,” he said.
The area was just like his old living room. But all around the room were dark, dirt walls. Clarence looked the same from what I could tell, but the only light was from the TV. I went over and grabbed a beer out of his fridge. He used to always offer me a beer. The cheap kind. Once in a while, I would buy a case to help replenish, although he always said it wasn’t necessary.
“Have a seat. We have a lot of catching up to do,” he said.
Part 3.
“How are things going with your family?” he asked.
“Not bad. They’re doing pretty good.”
I was sitting there, in the bottom of a cemetery, drinking a beer with someone I haven’t seen in probably twenty years, and presumed dead for many of them.
“What’s going on here Clarence? What the heck is this place?”
“Well, Alex, what do you think it is?”
“Honestly, I think it could be Hell or some type of Purgatory.”
“Well, I would rather not say at this time, because I don’t think it’s that important for you to know. What is important, is for you to spend some time with me and keep me company, watch some baseball, and have a beer or two.”
I didn’t know what that answer meant. But I felt somewhat comfortable knowing the person I was talking to was a familiar face, and that maybe, there was a chance I could get out of here.”
“I can do that!” I excitedly replied, as if I’ve always been thinking I wished I could have spent more time with Clarence all along.
“So, Clarence, what have you been up to?” I asked while taking another sip of beer.
“Same old shit. The Rays suck, as usual.”
The Rays were our local pro baseball team.
“I really haven’t spent a lot of time watching any baseball lately. I’ve kind of given up on them and baseball in general,” I replied.
“Well you’re not missing much, let me tell you. These dumb asses keep trading away the young talent for experienced veteran players who fizzle when they get here. I just don’t understand it.”
I really didn’t know what else to talk about. Can I ask about the neighborhood? In the past, I would bring that up as a conversation starter. You know, when the conversation in the room dies, you quickly look for something else to talk about to kill the awkward silence.
But we are surrounded by dirt walls. Not windows with views of the street and people walking by. And with no windows to look out, I had nothing else to ask, and he was just watching baseball.
“How're things around here?” I asked.
“Same old bull shit. David has had his eye on this new girl who just moved in, and Stacy and her husband are still a pain in my ass.”
What the heck was going on here?! Who are these people? I thought.
“Are these people from around here, Clarence?”
“Yes, it’s the same old crap as we had in the neighborhood when you lived here. This one gossips about that one, this one is doing that one, so on and so on.”
“Where are all these people? I didn’t see any of them when I came in.”
“You won’t, either. But they see you.”
“I don’t understand?”
“They are all dead, and you’re not, that’s why,” he explained.
“So, you can see all of them? There are people walking around here, right now?”
“Absolutely! They are all around us here in this neighborhood. You can’t see it, but I have windows and doors, and there are mobile homes across the street and next to me. Just like when we lived in the mobile home park, and you were my neighbor.”
“All the same people are here? Ray across the street? Ann down the block?” I questioned.
“Yes, but a lot of new ones have moved in, and many of the older ones have moved out.”
“Where did they go?”
“They took another elevator.”
“You mean, like the one that I took but going a different place?”
“Exactly!”
“Are you all here for eternity or what?”
“Could be. Sometimes someone just moves out and someone new moves in. You never know. Holly crap! Look at that hit! That’s going to get out of here!” Clarence excitedly shouted.
The Rays just hit a home run. I just sat there and stayed quiet for a few minutes thinking. I can’t believe I’m here. This is all so surreal. I continued to drink my beer until I finished it.
“Grab another one and how about we smoke a joint?” Clarence excitedly said, “just like old times.”
“Sure, love to!”
“You ready for a cold one?” I asked.
“Absolutely.”
I handed him his beer and opened mine and took a long swig. I turned my head around the room and looked at the dark, dirt walls.
“Clarence, are all these hallways I see going in between where people are buried?”
“Yep. That’s what you see.”
I didn’t say any more. He pulled out a rolled joint and lit it up. After a long drag, he reached over and handed it to me.
“Take a hit of this stuff! This will knock your socks off.”
“Sure.”
I took a hit, then went to pass it back to him.
“Keep it for a few. You can use it,” he said.
I took a few more hits and then all of a sudden, the room started to change. The dirt walls were now turning into what his living room used to look like when I lived next door. I looked out the windows and the old mobile home park started to resemble what it used to look like as well. Across the street were the mobile homes that were there when I lived here. I stood up and walked over to the side window that faced my old place. I pulled the drapes aside, and there it was, our old place, but much junkier.
“Man! After smoking that stuff, everything looks like it used to from your living room. But my old place looks like crap!”
“Yeah, well you sold it to some real White trash. They made a mess of it, and the whole neighborhood looks bad now.”
Clarence just sat there watching the game, while I was still in astonishment. I looked out his front window in his kitchen/dining room and saw people walking by.
“Do you know all these people, Clarence?”
“Most of them. As I said, new people tend to move in now and then. Sometimes, when they first move in, they stay to themselves for a few weeks. I guess to get acclimated to where they’re at.”
“Are these people bad? I mean, did they do bad things in their life?”
“Not sure. Most don’t talk about their pasts. They keep it a secret. But I for one know what I did, so I’m guessing they did something bad too.”
“Is this place just for bad people and those who may have done some pretty nasty stuff in the past?”
“Could be, Alex. I just assume most are here for that reason. They are here for a while and then some move-out. Not sure where either.”
I sat back down in the chair where I was before and took a few swigs of my beer. I needed to process what was happening here, if I could. I just watched the TV for and stayed quiet. Clarence was watching the game and would occasionally swear at the players or comment to himself how stupid they are. After each comment, he would take another drink of his beer.
Then I thought, man, I did a few things in the past that weren’t great. Maybe that counts against me? Now, all the things I did that would be considered by many to be wrong, were coming into my head.
Then I thought, but I’m a Christian, and all my sins were supposed to be forgiven? Were they? Did all that still count?
“Clarence, you didn’t practice religion when I knew you. Did you practice before I met you or after I moved out?”
“Nope!” Never felt I had a need to.”
“Do you believe in a higher being?”
“I do now.”
“Do you pray?”
“No, I don’t. I figure I’m here, I’m here. Whatever. I know others who do, though.”
“Does it do them any good?”
“Maybe. Some do move out, and some are still here, like me.”
“Do you believe they were once forgiven for what they may have done but still wound up here?”
“Alex, I really can’t say.”
Clarence and I sat there, and we had another beer each. We continued to watch the Rays lose and talked about the neighbors. He would say he wasn’t a busy-body like Ann down the street. But he knew everyone’s business, at least how many times they walked past his place and at what time. He used to spend a good deal of time at his small dining room table and just people watch while drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, when I knew him back then.
Then I thought, maybe just having my bad deeds forgiven may not have been enough. Maybe that would have been too easy. I mean, If I can go out and commit a terrible act and then go right to confession and be forgiven, what the heck? No punishment from the Lord. It’s too easy.
But now, now I wonder. Is that forgiveness really absolving me from my sins or just merely making my conscious feel better?
Right after I thought about the latter, that pondering moment that now made me feel vulnerable, my buzz from the joint and beer started to wear off. The windows with the view and light shining in were starting to go dark and disappear. The living room walls were now changing back into the dirt walls, and everything was soon back to when I first arrived.
Clarence turned to look at me and said, “I guess you’d better be heading home now, your wife will be leaving work soon.”
In the past, it was always hard for me to leave because he never wanted me too. He was mostly lonely. But now he was telling me I should leave.
“I think you’re right. I’d better,” I answered.
I was so relieved to hear that. I get to leave. I’m not going to be stuck here.
“Do I just head back to the elevator, as I came in?” I asked him.
“Yep.”
“OK, well Clarence, I don’t know what to say. This was all unexpected, and I still don’t understand everything, but I’m glad I got a chance to see you.”
“Same here, Alex. Life is unpredictable. I may see you again someday.”
“Nothing personal, Clarence, but how do I keep from coming here again?”
“Can’t answer you there, wish I could. You’re my first visitor in 20 years. I get very lonely. I guess be careful of what you do.”
With that, I stood up and walked over and shook his hand.
“Take care, Clarence.”
“You too, Alex.”
I turned and walked back out into the dark, dirt hallway and turned left to head back to the elevator. As I walked on, the flickering TV light behind me became less bright, and the hallway became darker. I started to put my right hand out to feel the side of the wall again to keep my bearings and again I could feel the rocks and sticks protruding from the dirt walls. I figured they were mixed in with the dirt when they dug each grave.
As I walked, I could feel areas that were smooth, as if they hadn’t been dug. Maybe these areas were in between the graves, I thought.
I kept walking but still didn’t see the elevator lights. “Man, I hope the elevator is ahead soon. What if it isn’t?” I said to myself.
I kept walking and walking. But no elevator. Did I take the wrong path? I thought. Then I stopped and just stood there. Boy, maybe I’m not leaving here after all.
I wasn’t crying this time or shaking. But I was scared because of the total darkness and not knowing what could be coming or what would happen. I thought about all the choices I could have made differently in the past. “Yes, I made some big mistakes and screwed up! But I don’t think I belong here!” I said out loud. “I promise to do things differently. I promise you! Please, please let me see my wife and daughter again! Please!”
A few minutes went by, I just sat down on the dirt floor and leaned back onto the dirt wall. After another few minutes of sitting in the complete darkness, I heard a chime, and the elevator doors opened about ten feet in front me. It was lit inside. I quickly stood up, brushed myself off and walked to the front of it and then went inside.
I turned around to face the dark hallway, only partially lit from the elevator lights, just like when I arrived. The doors slowly closed and then I felt the elevator start to move, not up like I’m used to feeling, but down. Now my heart started racing again, and I began to breathe fast, so fast I could hardly catch my breath.
I started having a panic attack. “Oh shit, oh shit!! Here it comes!” I said out loud. Then the elevator stopped and paused. I just stood there trying to catch my breath, but barely could. Then, the chime rang, and the doors opened slowly. There I was. In front of me was not what I was expecting.
It was the graveyard. I was so relieved. I quickly walked out and then turned around. The doors slowly closed shut. I looked around, and it was still cloudy and dark like it might thunderstorm.
I started walking to the left of the elevator, up a hill and toward where I thought the front of the cemetery was to head home. I walked briskly but was still trying to catch my breath. I was moving for sure now, and I could start to hear the traffic in front of me and to the right.
I kept walking, and the sunshine started to break through the clouds, and it became apparent I was indeed starting to leave the graveyard.
I reached the sidewalk in front of it, right where all the cars were speeding past. I took a look at where I was before I crossed the street, knowing I wasn’t even going to attempt to go back to the trail. The building that housed the elevator was gone. I could see everything clearly now, and the building was gone.
I turned back around and crossed the street to the other side, where another graveyard was. But I turned left on the sidewalk and headed home.
As I got close to my house, I heard my phone indicate there was a voicemail message . I pulled it from my front shorts pocket and listened to the message. It was from my wife.
“Hi sweetie, I am on my way home. I hope you’re OK. I haven’t heard from you all day. Maybe we can get something to eat at the store later. See you soon. Love you!”
As I approached my house, I could see her car in the driveway. She’d already beaten me home.
I walked up to the front door and right before I put my key in, I thought to myself, boy, am I lucky! "Thank you very much! I whispered."
I opened the door, and there was my wife. I was so relieved and happy to be home! She came up to me, and we hugged and kissed. She asked me where I was, and I told her I was out for an afternoon walk, even though I went out for one in the morning.
We talked for a moment, and then I told her I needed to take a shower. As I walked away from her, she asked, “Why do you have dirt on the back of your shorts?”
E.
As I write this, it dawns on me that I actually have three graveyards close to where I live, all owned by separate companies.
This paved path created on top of old railroad tracks, runs through two graveyards and is traveled by others as a recreational bike and walking path.
I don’t think people think much of either graveyard when passing through. In fact, I have taken photos of trees and even a gravestone or two over my travels through there.
Today, I walked through and exited into a neighborhood and then small businesses on a busy street.
After thirty minutes, I decided to turn around and head back home. As I approached the rear of one graveyard, I started to travel along the rear of it until I reached the midway point. Today, I decided, I will turn into the graveyard and head into it toward the front, instead of continuing to the path that goes in between both.
I started making my way through and looked at many of the old gravestones and noticed how so many were of different sizes and shapes. It was obvious that some have paid more for their loved one's grave markers. I guess this was to show more love or draw more attention.
Funny, as I wrote this, my right thumb and surrounding area on my hand started to itch, and I had to keep scratching it, really digging into it with my nails.
Anyway, as I continued my walk through this graveyard, I could hear the cars zooming by in front of me and to the right toward that busy road of businesses I just came from.
But as I walked on, I seemed to be the same distance to the right, front and rear as I was just five minutes ago. Yet, everything around me kept changing as I walked. Each gravestone would be seen in the distance and get closer and closer, and then it went past me.
I kept walking and even stopped to take a few pictures of a couple of unique gravestones and markers I saw along the way.
My camera on my phone was loading really slowly, ever since the new software update.
I kept walking for a while, but it seemed I was much further away from home than the fifteen minutes I felt I should be.
Clouds started blocking the morning sun, casting eerie darkness over the graveyard. I thought to myself “this is starting to become a dark novel.”
There were so many dead trees with no leaves just standing all around me. The typical black crows would talk to each other, as I believe they were talking about me.
Even with the distant sound of the cars, my cell phone ringing startled me. I looked at the number but didn’t recognize it. “If I don’t see a name appear of someone I know, it must be a solicitor,” I thought. So, I let it go to voicemail. Thirty seconds later, my phone made the notification that I did receive a voicemail. I looked at my phone again and started to listen to the voicemail. At first, I didn’t hear any voice, which is not unusual for many who wish to talk to you and not leave a message. Sometimes, the message is just background noise, like they didn’t hang up right away. But this message had no voice, but I did pick something up. I listened to it again, this time I held it up to my ear. It sounded like someone walking, and occasionally stepping on dead leaves as they did so.
“That’s weird,” I thought. “Maybe it was a wrong number or someone 'butt dialed me.'”
The clouds in the sky were getting thicker and the area, which was full of 9:00 AM sunshine, now had the appearance resembling a rainstorm approaching, or it was getting close to being late in the day.
I didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting closer to the street in front of me. The cars passing sound was now very faint. “Should I turn back and head out of here?” I thought. This was getting eerier by the minute.
Ahead, I could start to see a small building with what seemed like a worker outside of it doing some kind of activity. “Maybe that is a maintenance building or something.” But as I got closer, the worker went around back, and I didn’t see him again.
As the building got closer, it also got smaller. Instead of a maintenance building, it was more like a brick shed. The birds kept talking, and the gravestones kept passing me by, I could no longer hear the cars, and there was little light.
I approached the brick building and noticed it was not what I thought it was. I stopped fifteen feet from it and couldn’t believe what I was looking at. “What the heck is this?!”
It was an elevator. An actual elevator. “What the heck? Who would put an elevator in the middle of a graveyard?” I said out loud.
This was probably the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen. I was totally perplexed. I mean, this whole experience now was from a movie, or at least it should be. And now I have this elevator in front of me. I mean, where could this thing actually go? There was obviously no second floor, so It could only go, oh, no way, down?
Just then, the elevator doors opened. It was lit inside and empty.
“What should I do? Should I get on? I feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere. I obviously can’t run anywhere. Should I call someone? Who?” I thought.
Was this an elevator that would take me underground to my death or was it to hell?
Then, my phone rang again, and I jumped! “Holy shit!” I yelled. I looked at the number, and this time it said, “Unknown.”
I started having all these thoughts run through my head. My wife, she was at work. My daughter was at school: my dad, our cat. Now I was getting really scared.
Here I am, in the middle of this graveyard, in what seems like some kind of alternate universe. All I was doing was getting a little exercise, and now I have this elevator in a graveyard in front of me with the doors opened, and my phone ringing.
My heart and mind were racing, and then I heard the voicemail alert on my phone again. Truthfully, I was hesitant to listen to it. I did listen to it, but wished I didn’t.
Part 2
The message from the unknown caller was someone I used to know many years ago. A neighbor of mine. He used to live next door to my wife and me when we lived in a mobile home park, the second place we lived.
A few years after we moved to our current home, I sort of lost touch with him. He was an elderly man I used to visit and smoke a little marijuana and have a few beers in the evening with. We would watch our local pro baseball team on TV and talk crap about all of our neighbors and what they were doing.
His name was Clarence. I know I should have kept in touch because I knew he was lonely and didn’t have anyone to talk too. His female friend was found on her kitchen floor by one of her family members. She died of an insulin issue because she was diabetic and didn’t take good care of her blood sugar.
But I moved on. My daughter was born, and I really felt it wasn’t my scene anymore. I was a dad now and had evolved. I couldn’t just sit and watch baseball anymore. I tried going over once, but man, going back to that mobile home park was now depressing. Heck, I lived in a home now.
The message Clarence left was, “Alex, this is Clarence. I know you have been busy. You haven’t visited me in over twenty years. Can you visit me now? If you can, take the elevator down to see me.”
“Oh, crap! This is F**ked up!!” I said out loud. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE??” I screamed!
I tried dialing 911, but my phone displayed, “no service.” I couldn’t hear anything around me. No cars, no birds. It was if I was out in the middle of a darkened forest. My mind was racing, and I thought about every person I knew and everything I could do. But nobody could hear me now. I was petrified. Where would this elevator go? Would I ever come back? What about my wife and daughter?
I started to pray, just standing within feet of the elevator. “Lord, please help me!” I said out loud.
I turned around and started to run in the opposite direction. But I felt like I was running in slow motion. I couldn’t get any speed. I was so tired and felt weak. After about ten minutes, I just collapsed on the ground. When I turned around to see how far I’ve gotten, I couldn’t believe it! The elevator was still only about fifteen feet away.
I just sat there on the ground for a while longer. But for some reason, I knew I had no choice. Since I couldn’t go anywhere and couldn’t get any help, I decided to enter the elevator. After all, if this was to be my end, it was to be. I have never been so scared in all my life. I knew there was no begging for mercy or anything else. I could just stand there for as long as I liked, but I didn’t feel anything was going to change.
I only wish I could say goodbye to my beautiful wife and daughter. They loved me so much! We are a small but tight family. “My God, please give me more time!” I screamed while crying.
What will they do? I know how much they will miss me. My dad, he will soon need me as he gets older. What have I done with my life? All these thoughts and feelings kept washing over me. I couldn’t keep going on like this. It was too overwhelming. I needed to end it now!
I stood up, brushed myself off and started to walk toward the elevator slowly. I was about two feet from the opening when my phone rang again. I looked at the screen, and it was my wife calling. I tried to answer it, but I couldn’t. My phone just wouldn’t work. The phone kept ringing, and I just watched it. Finally, the ringing stopped, and I knew she would leave a voicemail. After a minute, I heard the voicemail notification. I was now able to get to the voicemail and listen to her message.
“Hi sweetie, I was calling to see how you were doing. I’m at lunch. Hope you’re doing well. Call me if you can. I have about ten minutes left. If not, I’ll call you after school. Talk to you later. Love you!”
I stood there and just sobbed. “Oh darling, I wish so bad to be with you now! I’m so scared!” I whispered.
I had resigned myself to the fact that this was probably it. That was the last time I would hear my wife’s voice. Now, it was time for me to do what I didn’t want. To do something I had no intention of doing today.
I wiped my eyes for the last time and stepped forward into the elevator. I turned around to face where I once was, and the elevator doors slowly shut. Then the elevator started moving, down, of course. It moved slowly and shook a little. I could hear a creak or two as we moved.
Then, it stopped. The ride only took about ten seconds and didn’t feel like we went far at all. The elevator just sat there for nearly a minute, then the doors finally opened.
I couldn’t see very much, because it was so dark. I was terrified, but also accepting that what was to be, was to be. I slowly walked forward off the elevator and then stood there looking around. From what I could see, it seemed like I was only ten feet or so below the ground because it looked like there were passageways between where people were buried. Everything was dirt. The ground, ceiling, walls. I didn’t know which way to go, and I could only see so many feet in front of me no matter which way I looked. The only light was from the elevator behind me.
Then I heard the voice of my old neighbor Clarence. “Hey Alex, I’m down here. Walk forward.”
That was him alright. I started walking toward where I heard his voice, and as I did, it got darker and darker. As I kept walking, I couldn’t see anything in front of me and had to put my right hand out to touch the dirt wall as I walked to keep my bearings. It soon became pitch black. As I went on, I could feel roots and rocks in the dirt wall. I was absolutely petrified!
Was I being led to my death? What was going to happen? I thought.
I stopped for a moment, afraid to go any further. Then I heard his voice again. “I’m right down here to the right. Just a little further,” he said.
I continued walking. My knees were buckling from the pure fright I was experiencing. I felt like I was in hell. Boy, I must have really messed up. I thought I was doing pretty decent as a Christian. I guess the mistakes I made in the past were just too great.
As I kept walking, I could start to see some flickering light. The closer I got, the brighter the flickering light became. It appeared to be the flickering light you would see from a TV in a room. I could start to hear some sound too. As I got even closer, the sound reminded me of a baseball game being played on TV. And then, there I was. I reached it. I looked into the room to my right, which was about the size of a small living room. The TV was playing a baseball game, and there was Clarence sitting in his old chair watching it with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.
He turned away from the TV and looked at me and said, “How the hell are you?! It took you long enough!”
“I’m doing OK Clarence.” My voice was trembling, and my knees were still shaking. But for some reason, I felt a little better now that I was here.
“Grab a beer in the fridge and have a seat,” he said.
The area was just like his old living room. But all around the room were dark, dirt walls. Clarence looked the same from what I could tell, but the only light was from the TV. I went over and grabbed a beer out of his fridge. He used to always offer me a beer. The cheap kind. Once in a while, I would buy a case to help replenish, although he always said it wasn’t necessary.
“Have a seat. We have a lot of catching up to do,” he said.
Part 3.
“How are things going with your family?” he asked.
“Not bad. They’re doing pretty good.”
I was sitting there, in the bottom of a cemetery, drinking a beer with someone I haven’t seen in probably twenty years, and presumed dead for many of them.
“What’s going on here Clarence? What the heck is this place?”
“Well, Alex, what do you think it is?”
“Honestly, I think it could be Hell or some type of Purgatory.”
“Well, I would rather not say at this time, because I don’t think it’s that important for you to know. What is important, is for you to spend some time with me and keep me company, watch some baseball, and have a beer or two.”
I didn’t know what that answer meant. But I felt somewhat comfortable knowing the person I was talking to was a familiar face, and that maybe, there was a chance I could get out of here.”
“I can do that!” I excitedly replied, as if I’ve always been thinking I wished I could have spent more time with Clarence all along.
“So, Clarence, what have you been up to?” I asked while taking another sip of beer.
“Same old shit. The Rays suck, as usual.”
The Rays were our local pro baseball team.
“I really haven’t spent a lot of time watching any baseball lately. I’ve kind of given up on them and baseball in general,” I replied.
“Well you’re not missing much, let me tell you. These dumb asses keep trading away the young talent for experienced veteran players who fizzle when they get here. I just don’t understand it.”
I really didn’t know what else to talk about. Can I ask about the neighborhood? In the past, I would bring that up as a conversation starter. You know, when the conversation in the room dies, you quickly look for something else to talk about to kill the awkward silence.
But we are surrounded by dirt walls. Not windows with views of the street and people walking by. And with no windows to look out, I had nothing else to ask, and he was just watching baseball.
“How're things around here?” I asked.
“Same old bull shit. David has had his eye on this new girl who just moved in, and Stacy and her husband are still a pain in my ass.”
What the heck was going on here?! Who are these people? I thought.
“Are these people from around here, Clarence?”
“Yes, it’s the same old crap as we had in the neighborhood when you lived here. This one gossips about that one, this one is doing that one, so on and so on.”
“Where are all these people? I didn’t see any of them when I came in.”
“You won’t, either. But they see you.”
“I don’t understand?”
“They are all dead, and you’re not, that’s why,” he explained.
“So, you can see all of them? There are people walking around here, right now?”
“Absolutely! They are all around us here in this neighborhood. You can’t see it, but I have windows and doors, and there are mobile homes across the street and next to me. Just like when we lived in the mobile home park, and you were my neighbor.”
“All the same people are here? Ray across the street? Ann down the block?” I questioned.
“Yes, but a lot of new ones have moved in, and many of the older ones have moved out.”
“Where did they go?”
“They took another elevator.”
“You mean, like the one that I took but going a different place?”
“Exactly!”
“Are you all here for eternity or what?”
“Could be. Sometimes someone just moves out and someone new moves in. You never know. Holly crap! Look at that hit! That’s going to get out of here!” Clarence excitedly shouted.
The Rays just hit a home run. I just sat there and stayed quiet for a few minutes thinking. I can’t believe I’m here. This is all so surreal. I continued to drink my beer until I finished it.
“Grab another one and how about we smoke a joint?” Clarence excitedly said, “just like old times.”
“Sure, love to!”
“You ready for a cold one?” I asked.
“Absolutely.”
I handed him his beer and opened mine and took a long swig. I turned my head around the room and looked at the dark, dirt walls.
“Clarence, are all these hallways I see going in between where people are buried?”
“Yep. That’s what you see.”
I didn’t say any more. He pulled out a rolled joint and lit it up. After a long drag, he reached over and handed it to me.
“Take a hit of this stuff! This will knock your socks off.”
“Sure.”
I took a hit, then went to pass it back to him.
“Keep it for a few. You can use it,” he said.
I took a few more hits and then all of a sudden, the room started to change. The dirt walls were now turning into what his living room used to look like when I lived next door. I looked out the windows and the old mobile home park started to resemble what it used to look like as well. Across the street were the mobile homes that were there when I lived here. I stood up and walked over to the side window that faced my old place. I pulled the drapes aside, and there it was, our old place, but much junkier.
“Man! After smoking that stuff, everything looks like it used to from your living room. But my old place looks like crap!”
“Yeah, well you sold it to some real White trash. They made a mess of it, and the whole neighborhood looks bad now.”
Clarence just sat there watching the game, while I was still in astonishment. I looked out his front window in his kitchen/dining room and saw people walking by.
“Do you know all these people, Clarence?”
“Most of them. As I said, new people tend to move in now and then. Sometimes, when they first move in, they stay to themselves for a few weeks. I guess to get acclimated to where they’re at.”
“Are these people bad? I mean, did they do bad things in their life?”
“Not sure. Most don’t talk about their pasts. They keep it a secret. But I for one know what I did, so I’m guessing they did something bad too.”
“Is this place just for bad people and those who may have done some pretty nasty stuff in the past?”
“Could be, Alex. I just assume most are here for that reason. They are here for a while and then some move-out. Not sure where either.”
I sat back down in the chair where I was before and took a few swigs of my beer. I needed to process what was happening here, if I could. I just watched the TV for and stayed quiet. Clarence was watching the game and would occasionally swear at the players or comment to himself how stupid they are. After each comment, he would take another drink of his beer.
Then I thought, man, I did a few things in the past that weren’t great. Maybe that counts against me? Now, all the things I did that would be considered by many to be wrong, were coming into my head.
Then I thought, but I’m a Christian, and all my sins were supposed to be forgiven? Were they? Did all that still count?
“Clarence, you didn’t practice religion when I knew you. Did you practice before I met you or after I moved out?”
“Nope!” Never felt I had a need to.”
“Do you believe in a higher being?”
“I do now.”
“Do you pray?”
“No, I don’t. I figure I’m here, I’m here. Whatever. I know others who do, though.”
“Does it do them any good?”
“Maybe. Some do move out, and some are still here, like me.”
“Do you believe they were once forgiven for what they may have done but still wound up here?”
“Alex, I really can’t say.”
Clarence and I sat there, and we had another beer each. We continued to watch the Rays lose and talked about the neighbors. He would say he wasn’t a busy-body like Ann down the street. But he knew everyone’s business, at least how many times they walked past his place and at what time. He used to spend a good deal of time at his small dining room table and just people watch while drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, when I knew him back then.
Then I thought, maybe just having my bad deeds forgiven may not have been enough. Maybe that would have been too easy. I mean, If I can go out and commit a terrible act and then go right to confession and be forgiven, what the heck? No punishment from the Lord. It’s too easy.
But now, now I wonder. Is that forgiveness really absolving me from my sins or just merely making my conscious feel better?
Right after I thought about the latter, that pondering moment that now made me feel vulnerable, my buzz from the joint and beer started to wear off. The windows with the view and light shining in were starting to go dark and disappear. The living room walls were now changing back into the dirt walls, and everything was soon back to when I first arrived.
Clarence turned to look at me and said, “I guess you’d better be heading home now, your wife will be leaving work soon.”
In the past, it was always hard for me to leave because he never wanted me too. He was mostly lonely. But now he was telling me I should leave.
“I think you’re right. I’d better,” I answered.
I was so relieved to hear that. I get to leave. I’m not going to be stuck here.
“Do I just head back to the elevator, as I came in?” I asked him.
“Yep.”
“OK, well Clarence, I don’t know what to say. This was all unexpected, and I still don’t understand everything, but I’m glad I got a chance to see you.”
“Same here, Alex. Life is unpredictable. I may see you again someday.”
“Nothing personal, Clarence, but how do I keep from coming here again?”
“Can’t answer you there, wish I could. You’re my first visitor in 20 years. I get very lonely. I guess be careful of what you do.”
With that, I stood up and walked over and shook his hand.
“Take care, Clarence.”
“You too, Alex.”
I turned and walked back out into the dark, dirt hallway and turned left to head back to the elevator. As I walked on, the flickering TV light behind me became less bright, and the hallway became darker. I started to put my right hand out to feel the side of the wall again to keep my bearings and again I could feel the rocks and sticks protruding from the dirt walls. I figured they were mixed in with the dirt when they dug each grave.
As I walked, I could feel areas that were smooth, as if they hadn’t been dug. Maybe these areas were in between the graves, I thought.
I kept walking but still didn’t see the elevator lights. “Man, I hope the elevator is ahead soon. What if it isn’t?” I said to myself.
I kept walking and walking. But no elevator. Did I take the wrong path? I thought. Then I stopped and just stood there. Boy, maybe I’m not leaving here after all.
I wasn’t crying this time or shaking. But I was scared because of the total darkness and not knowing what could be coming or what would happen. I thought about all the choices I could have made differently in the past. “Yes, I made some big mistakes and screwed up! But I don’t think I belong here!” I said out loud. “I promise to do things differently. I promise you! Please, please let me see my wife and daughter again! Please!”
A few minutes went by, I just sat down on the dirt floor and leaned back onto the dirt wall. After another few minutes of sitting in the complete darkness, I heard a chime, and the elevator doors opened about ten feet in front me. It was lit inside. I quickly stood up, brushed myself off and walked to the front of it and then went inside.
I turned around to face the dark hallway, only partially lit from the elevator lights, just like when I arrived. The doors slowly closed and then I felt the elevator start to move, not up like I’m used to feeling, but down. Now my heart started racing again, and I began to breathe fast, so fast I could hardly catch my breath.
I started having a panic attack. “Oh shit, oh shit!! Here it comes!” I said out loud. Then the elevator stopped and paused. I just stood there trying to catch my breath, but barely could. Then, the chime rang, and the doors opened slowly. There I was. In front of me was not what I was expecting.
It was the graveyard. I was so relieved. I quickly walked out and then turned around. The doors slowly closed shut. I looked around, and it was still cloudy and dark like it might thunderstorm.
I started walking to the left of the elevator, up a hill and toward where I thought the front of the cemetery was to head home. I walked briskly but was still trying to catch my breath. I was moving for sure now, and I could start to hear the traffic in front of me and to the right.
I kept walking, and the sunshine started to break through the clouds, and it became apparent I was indeed starting to leave the graveyard.
I reached the sidewalk in front of it, right where all the cars were speeding past. I took a look at where I was before I crossed the street, knowing I wasn’t even going to attempt to go back to the trail. The building that housed the elevator was gone. I could see everything clearly now, and the building was gone.
I turned back around and crossed the street to the other side, where another graveyard was. But I turned left on the sidewalk and headed home.
As I got close to my house, I heard my phone indicate there was a voicemail message . I pulled it from my front shorts pocket and listened to the message. It was from my wife.
“Hi sweetie, I am on my way home. I hope you’re OK. I haven’t heard from you all day. Maybe we can get something to eat at the store later. See you soon. Love you!”
As I approached my house, I could see her car in the driveway. She’d already beaten me home.
I walked up to the front door and right before I put my key in, I thought to myself, boy, am I lucky! "Thank you very much! I whispered."
I opened the door, and there was my wife. I was so relieved and happy to be home! She came up to me, and we hugged and kissed. She asked me where I was, and I told her I was out for an afternoon walk, even though I went out for one in the morning.
We talked for a moment, and then I told her I needed to take a shower. As I walked away from her, she asked, “Why do you have dirt on the back of your shorts?”
E.