The graveyard

The bus was moving at its own sweet speed. The sun was about to set and the whole sky was smattered with orange color. There were not many people sitting now. I hadn’t seen such a brilliant display of colors in a long time. I was coming back from my brother’s house.

Those eyes were staring at me. Those dark blue eyes surrounded by wrinkles. The old man wore a white shirt with dark trousers. They looked worn out. For some reason, he was looking at me continuously. As I noticed, his eyes were dull and lifeless. No one was sitting beside him. No one seemed to notice him even. There were around 15 more passengers and yet this man was looking at me. Suddenly he smiled as if he realized something, and turned around. I heaved a sigh of relief yet was curious as to why was that man doing this.

My stop had come. To my astonishment, I saw the old man getting down with me. The curiosity was aroused even more.

‘Hello sir’, the man called.
I turned around to see. He was walking fast to catch up with me. ‘Hello’, I replied with a forced smile.
‘Sorry, I was just trying to scare you there. But you seem to be a tough nut.’ He flashed his toothless smile.
‘Err, yes I am quite used to scares. Been an avid fan of Hitchcocks and Poes’, don’t know why but I tried to be friendly.
‘I see. I am coming back from my son’s house. Moved in this area yesterday so thought of paying them a visit.’
‘That is good; even I am coming back from my brother’s house.’

We had stopped in front of the graveyard now. The old man, suddenly without a word and with amazing agility, went inside the graveyard. I, now with a strange curiosity, followed him. I certainly wanted to see what else did this man had in store.

The old man now was walking ahead of me and was unusually quiet. He stopped once and looked at me and then started walking again.

‘Most interesting’, I remarked to myself. I was always a sucker of horror and suspense. And to happen in a place like a graveyard was a bonus in itself.

The graveyard was now dark and visibility was poor. A dog howled somewhere. The place had an eerie feeling. One could always feel that ghosts lurked around there. To meet one there wouldn’t have come as a surprise.

After walking through the bushes, we came to an open area, where all one could see was graves. The caretaker’s house was visible on the eastern side. A small light emanated from the hut.
I stopped midway and decided to see the man from there itself. The old man stopped in front of a freshly dug grave. His back now faced towards me.

To my horror, the man suddenly twisted his head in a full circular motion and then moved it again to look at me. Now his head was facing me and his front body on the opposite direction.

Such a sight would have scared the daylights of a person but I had seen worse, though, I admit this was most unusual.

‘I moved in yesterday and tried this today on my wretched son. He apologized for killing me. Liked it?’ he shouted with the same toothless smile as he walked into his grave.

‘Absolutely sir, loved it, will learn it tomorrow for my brother. Welcome to the neighborhood. Nice meeting you’, a smile ran through my lips, as I walked into mine.