A Grave Concern

It was a Tuesday afternoon. The clock on the microwave read twelve o’clock. Outside, the clouds were darker than usual, and while there was no scorching sun that day, nor had the precipitation yet begun, there was still enough humidity to leave any person that wandered outside drenched in sweat.

Inside, Frank and Samantha both sat at the kitchen counter, in silence. Not looking at each other, but down at the counter they were both sitting at. The kitchen light was off and the room was only being dimly lit by the obscured sunlight coming in from the sliding door leading out into the backyard.

The view towards the outside from the counter they were sitting at was somber, at best: two shovels, pierced into the dirt, standing next to a long, brown, unmoving bag on the ground.

After several minutes, Samantha broke the silence: “... we don’t have a lot of time, you know.” she said as she lifted her glance from the counter towards the bag on the ground.

“It looks like it might rain soon… that’s going to be an even bigger mess.”

Tears began running down Frank’s face as he looked at Samantha. “I know… but… I’ve never done anything like this before… this isn’t easy for me.”

Samantha, always the calmer of the two, attempted to snap Frank back into the reality of the situation;

“They’ll be home soon. We’ll need to get everything cleaned up before they get here, and who knows how they’ll react if they see him. Come on. Let’s get started.”

They slowly made their way towards the sliding door, opened it, and almost out of habit, left the door open for a moment before stepping out themselves.

As they walked outside towards the shovels, Frank kept his eyes fixated on the motionless bag. Sweat had already begun running down his face and arms and his clothes began to feel damp.

Together, Frank and Samantha plunged the shovels into the ground.

Bit by bit, soaked in sweat, they dug the hole deeper and deeper as the time rolled by.

Two hours of digging through the rough ground, their entire bodies covered in perspiration. They simultaneously let their shovels fall when they felt the hole they’d dug into the ground had sufficient depth.

Samantha motioned at Frank to grab one end of the bag, while she grabbed the other, as she gestured toward the recently dug pit.

“On three… Ready?”

Frank nodded back slowly, with a blank stare.

“One…

Two….

THREE!”

Together, they lifted the stiff, unmoving bag, and dropped it into the recently created cavity in their back yard.

Samantha exhaled a large sigh and said “I think we should take a little break… I’m so thirsty right now.”

“Yeah… It’s almost time though… we’ll still need to shovel the dirt back in and clean ourselves up before they get home.” replied Frank.

Still covered head to toe in sweat, they headed inside as Samantha took a seat at the counter and Frank reached into the refrigerator for two bottles of water. He handed one to his partner, then sat in the exact same position as before they went outside, hours earlier.

Samantha looked toward the time on the microwave. “Two-thirty, on the clock... they’ll be out in half an hour and be on their way home soon… so we’ve got about an hour left, at best. They’re obviously going to notice the moment they get here.” said Samantha, “... even if we finish in time.”

“Yeah…” whispered Frank. “I’m still afraid of what their reactions will be… but at least they won’t have to see him that way… they’ll remember him as he was.”

As Samantha reached to grab Frank’s hand, they both heard a familiar noise outside…

The school bus had arrived.

“What!? It’s too early! They shouldn’t be home for another hour!” panicked Frank.

Samantha looked once more toward the microwave, then back at Frank, and her face became pale.

“Frank… did you remember to change the time on the microwave for daylight savings?”