The Mystery of the Old Cemetery

“I wish father were here”. These were the last words of two children when they were mourning their father’s death in a cemetery. They died a few minutes later because of a fire. This is how it happened.

A burial ceremony was taking place close by and a man smoking a cigar dropped it onto the dry grass. Flames shot up in the air and all the people present at the burial escaped as they were aware of the fire. But the two young children were not so fortunate. They were caught unawares and both succumbed to the flames.

They were both buried in a new graveyard, as the present one was now in very bad shape. None mourned them, as they were orphans after their father’s death.

Even though the graveyard was now closed (except for mourners) it was full of activity. People were trying to find a treasure that they believed was present in the cemetery. As it was easier to dig up the ash they were more excited than ever. But they were excited too soon. Even after weeks the treasure had not been found. Eventually, the treasure fever died down.

One year later

This was exactly a year after the incident. I, a software engineer from a software firm, read in the columns of a paper that for the past few nights the ghosts of two children who had died in the fire in the cemetery had been haunting the place. I did pass the old cemetery while going to work but it was during the day as I had a day shift.

It just so happened that that very day I was allotted to a night shift. The picture of two ghostly figures came floating into my mind as the manager told me that I was being given a night shift. But since I was a skeptical person I was not a bit scared. That night, as usual I set off to work on foot. As I was well in time for office and I was passing the graveyard I stopped for a bit to have a look around. The grass was very long and the place was very spooky.

There was a light on in the caretaker’s hut. I entered the graveyard to ask the caretaker some questions. When I entered the hut I found the caretaker quaking with fear.

“What is the matter?” I asked.

He replied, “The ghosts of the two children have just been by.”

I asked abruptly, “Do you want a cup of tea?”

He nodded.

While he was sipping his tea he asked, “Why have you come?”

I replied, “I had come to inquire about the ghost of two girls.”

He said reluctantly, “They are not very bad to me but they have said they will kill anybody who enters the cemetery.”

He then said, “Sir, you should get out of here fast or you may be their first victim.”

I felt a chill run down my spine and bidding goodbye to the caretaker. I left as quickly as I could but as I reached the gate I heard a ghastly voice saying “We have left you today but will not do so next time.” I left the creepy place hurriedly.

I was passing the cemetery on my way back from office that same night when I noticed something suspicious. There were deep holes all over the cemetery and I noticed the caretaker looking into one of them. I hid my desire to have a look and walked home.

That night I sat up in my chair trying to put all the pieces together. I was extremely sure that the ghosts were not actually ghosts.

The next day I went to the post office to find out if George, the caretaker had two children. It turned out that he did. I was now fearless as I was quite sure that the children were not ghosts.

Late that night I went to the cemetery to solve the mystery. I crept around the caretaker’s hut but found nothing unusual. It was clear that the caretaker was asleep because I could hear his snores. I roamed around the place waiting for the ghosts to appear. Suddenly, two ghostly faces loomed in front of me. I did not panic because I knew they were not ghosts. I boldly walked towards them and touched them. They were solid. Now, my suspicions were clear. I had come prepared and immediately twisted their wrists and locked them in handcuffs. Then, I crept into the caretakers hut and locked him in handcuffs too. (I had brought the handcuffs with me)

Having captured them, I raced to a nearby local phone and called the police. They came immediately. The caretaker and his children (because they were) were arrested and he was given life imprisonment. The children were spared but as they had nowhere to go they remained with their father.

While I was going out of court where I testified against the caretaker and his children the police inspector caught up with me and said, “Thank you for solving the mystery. You will be getting a bravery award for your efforts.” But the investigation wasn’t through yet. The police had to find out if there really was a treasure. It turned out that there wasn’t. This was disappointing for me as I had been told that I would get part of the treasure if there was one.

919 words | 9 minutes
Readability: Grade 5 (10-11 year old children)
Based on Flesch–Kincaid readability scores

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Tags: #mystery, #ghosts, #cemetery, #graveyard