The drive to the historical society the next morning was a painful one. Charlie thankfully was smart enough to offer to drive, so I was able to just stare out the window. By the time I started seeing headstones, I had finally worked up the nerve to finally share the details of last night with Charlie. He listened dutifully, only letting out a sigh once I was done.

“Jesus, buddy,” he said after a heartbeat. “I knew you were down bad for her. I just didn’t know it was that bad.”

“I didn’t either until last night,” I admitted. While I suppose that I had gotten enough sleep, as I lay there for as long as I could, holding Edith in my arms, it certainly felt like I’d been up for weeks. “And now that I finally found someone that means that much to me, I have to let her go.”

“Life is cruel like that,” Charlie said with a nod. “But was it worth the pain to experience it?”

“Yes,” I choked back a sob. “It was all worth it, but that just makes it hurt more.”

Charlie nodded solemnly. “It will for a while. For a while, it’s going to be killer. But eventually, the pain will take a step back, and you’ll be able to better focus on the good moments.”

I nodded back, trying to believe him. Right now, that future seemed a good distance off, but time had passed since Edith had died the first time, and the world had moved on. The world would move on from this, too. It just might take longer for the world to adjust for some of us.

__________

The historical society was confused when Charlie tried to explain how we knew where the gravesite was. He of course didn’t tell them the actual truth, but instead just stated that he had been doing his research and found it, but wasn’t going to be able to provide them with the details. They said they would look into it, but nothing would be happening until they could get their hands on verifiable information. There was a part of me that was so glad that they weren’t going to be placing headstones at random that I wanted to hug them. There was also a part of me, though, that felt dejected as we left the building.

Charlie could sense the tension rolling off of me as we walked to the car. He chucked an arm around my shoulder, as though he could sense that I needed extra support. “I got you, bud. I know it’s going to be a rough time for a while.”

“It’s not that,” I said, shaking him off. “It’s just that…it feels like we failed. Like I failed. The one thing that Edith specifically said that she wanted from me, and I couldn’t even do that.”

Charlie cocked an eyebrow at me. “Who said you failed at it?” I looked back at him, confused. It seemed so obvious to me that Edith would want the gravesite to be marked as soon as possible, but maybe I hadn’t fully explained the idea to him. I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off. “The historical society said that they couldn’t mark it until they did some research, which is fair enough. They didn’t say shit about us being able to mark it.”

I took a moment to process what he was saying, slowly feeling a smile spread across my face. “Charlie, you’re a goddamn genius.”

“I’ve been told that once or twice in my day. Now come on - I don’t know if the monument place would be able to get a permanent stone monument any time soon, but I’ve got a buddy that has some wood-burning tools and a bunch of spare boards.”

He started walking toward his truck and I followed. “Do you think that will work? It’s not a monument.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“It’s not, but we’re just looking for a grave marker at the moment. Our other option is a piece of notebook paper, and something tells me that you’d rather have the wood. It’s not a long-term solution, but it should hold until the historical society gets its shit in gear and gets a stone one. We can even make it all pretty and shit - I’m sure Edith would like that.”

I grinned at him, picturing her reaction. “I bet she would. She’s not much of a flowery person, but I bet she’d make an exception for this.”

__________

Four hours later, we returned to the cemetery, an armload of wooden plaques in tow with each of us. “You ready for this?” Charlie asked me, gesturing his head in the relative direction that he knew Edith’s grave was.

“No,” I admitted. “But I don’t know if there’s any other prepping that we can do that would make me ready for it, so let’s just get on with it.”

I walked over to where I felt Edith’s presence. It wasn’t the same as it was in the house - I didn’t feel her there with me, but more like she’d just left a room and I could still smell her perfume. I knelt on the ground, placing my armload of plaques next to the grave and picking up Edith’s. I stared at it, trying to will myself to put it down. Even though I knew that was what she would want, I had a hard time willing myself to do it.

Charlie’s friend had done great work, I thought. Each of the plaques stated the woman’s name, as well as a flower. He’d chosen a rose for Edith, and I thought it was fitting - something so beautiful, yet prickly if you wronged it.

I felt movement next to me and turned to find Charlie kneeling next to me. I tilted my head in question, and he nodded to let me know that he understood how difficult it was. “I didn’t know Edith very long,” he started. “Or, I guess I should say, I didn’t know her at all really, other than dealing with some of her cold spots. But from what you’ve told me, those cold spots weren’t representative of her. She was a warm person who looked after the women she took care of better than she did herself.”

“She was,” I agreed, staring down at the plaque. “She cared deeply for everyone around her, so much that it got her in trouble at the end of her life. She was fiery and a complete badass. I didn’t get to know her long either, but the time that I did get to know her will be forever imprinted in my memory. If we had been born at the same time, I think we could have had a beautiful life together.” I felt a tear slip from my eye and I reached up to wipe it. “I’ll miss her every day,” I finished. I pressed the plaque to my lips, wishing that it were Edith rather than the wood in my hands. Then, I set it lightly at the top of the grave. I had been expecting to feel something as I sat it down, but the world remained the same. I let the chill from the wind set into my bones, pretending it was her saying goodbye, and closed my eyes, willing myself to feel her drifting away to her peaceful eternity.

__________

We returned to my house, both exhausted after a long, emotionally draining day. For each woman, we had said some words before we set down the plaque - I knew that it probably didn’t make any difference, but it made it feel more official in my eyes. They didn’t need a funeral, or at least they didn’t need a second one, but they were all people that I had at least met, some of whom I had interacted with more than others, and it felt cruel to me to just banish them from this plane without saying goodbye.

While nothing had physically changed in the house, it felt quieter as we walked inside. I could tell Charlie felt the same way because he immediately let out a long, low whistle. “So this is what this place is supposed to feel like, huh? Seems boring to me.”

I nodded. “Boring is probably going to take a while to get used to.”

“Well, if you ever need a roommate to liven things up a bit, let me know.”

I chucked, elbowing him in the side lightly. “I feel like you’d bring ghosts of your own with you.”

“All the better to haunt you with, right?”

He grinned at me for a second before turning toward the kitchen. I stayed in the entry, looking at the renovation work that I had started what felt like ages ago. I was going to have to get back to that, now that I was going to have less ghost-filled free time again. I had originally started to paint the room gray, but as I looked at it, I decided that I was going to repaint. Edith had been right in her choices - the room needed to be blue.

Charlie returned a moment later with two open beers. I swiftly took one from him and drank deeply. He kept his eyes on me, and while he still had a joking smile on his face, I could see concern in his eyes. “In all seriousness,” he said, sneaking a drink of his beer, “do you think you’re going to be able to handle it here alone for a while? I can grab some stuff and stay for a few days if you want.”

I shook my head. “Thanks, but I think I’ll be fine. Edith might not be here anymore, but I feel like I can still feel her around.” She wasn’t here, but there was still the lingering feeling of being watched that had always seemed present in the house. There was still the occasional draft that came from old houses. There was still a chill that crept into my bones that reminded me so much of her. “This house was Edith’s first, after all - eternal afterlife or no, I don’t think she would give it up that quickly.”

Charlie smiled, and this time it touched his eyes. “Damn straight she wouldn’t. In that case,” he said, holding up his beer, “cheers to her, cheers to this house, and cheers to you haunting it as much as she did.”

I smiled, clinking my glass against this, then against the wall to cheer the house as well. “Cheers to us.” We both drank deeply, staring into the now quiet house. We both knew that considering the house itself, it wouldn’t be quiet for long.