Graveyard Shift
Della’s footsteps crunched over uneven gravel as she made her late-night rounds through the graveyard. The moon hovered low and bright, its glow revealing rows of weatherworn markers she’d memorized ages ago. Yet something tugged at her nerves tonight. A few paces ahead stood an empty patch of grass—where yesterday’s chores had shown a gravestone, battered but legible. Now, nothing. It was the fifth time that month a stone had vanished without a trace.
She knelt, brushing aside clumps of clover. No fresh soil or broken shards to explain why the monument disappeared—just a swirl of unsettled air. Her lantern flickered in an icy breeze. Part of her wanted to flee. Instead, she followed a faint hum, half-hearing what sounded like whispered sobs among the shadows. A dread coiled in her stomach.
Midnight struck. A low resonance swept through the graveyard. Della’s pulse thundered in her ears as an eerie luminescence rippled across the tombstones. In a far corner, a new headstone materialized, forging itself letter by letter until the entire name glowed eerily: a name she’d never seen—someone who shouldn’t exist. She staggered backward. This was impossible.
Her lantern light caught movement at the gate. A figure approached, wearing a cloak, an odd glowing timepiece at the wrist—a $TIME watch. She recognized it from tales: a device used by those called Time Keepers. The newcomer raised a hand, cautioning Della to stay calm. “I sensed a rift here,” the Keeper murmured, eyes scanning the half-lit gloom. “Something’s rewriting the resting places of the dead.”
A sudden wail echoed on the wind. Della whirled around to see a flickering spirit near an old oak, its presence wavering like a candle flame. It clutched a battered pocket watch that glowed with stolen $TIME energy. Tears streamed down its faint features, and every sob made the headstones tremble, as though they might rearrange again at any second.
The Keeper inhaled sharply. “So that’s it,” she whispered. “A grieving spirit trying to undo past loss—replacing old graves with new realities. If it continues, entire timelines could unravel.”
Della’s heart pounded as she realized what that meant. At the spirit’s next outburst, a row of headstones shimmered. Names dissolved, replaced by others Della didn’t recognize. The ground seemed to tilt. She braced against a stone angel, desperate to keep her balance.
The Keeper advanced slowly, raising her watch. “You’re hurting them,” she said gently to the spirit. “These changes... they don’t truly bring anyone back. Let me help you let go.”
For a moment, the spirit howled, wind whipping around them all, gravestones rattling in protest. Della feared the entire cemetery would be yanked into oblivion. Then the Keeper’s watch pulsed, sending a calm wave through the night. The spirit’s tearful gaze flickered. Its pocket watch sputtered with failing power, shadows of sorrow etched upon its face.
As the swirl of energy ebbed, the ground stilled. One by one, the vanished tombstones reappeared in their proper places. The new ones faded into memory. The spirit stared at the Keeper and Della, a final longing in its eyes. Then it drifted away, dissolving into a hush of moonlight.
Della nearly collapsed from relief. The Keeper gave a solemn nod before turning to go, watch still faintly glowing. “Thank you for staying brave,” the Keeper said to Della. “We saved more than a graveyard tonight. We saved a slice of history from disappearing.”
Breathing hard, Della looked over the silent field of markers—no longer changing, no longer haunted by twisted timelines. This was still her graveyard, and the dead would now rest in peace. But she’d never forget the midnight hush when stones vanished and a sorrowful spirit tried to rewrite fate—nor the Time Keeper whose steadiness had guided them all back from the brink of oblivion.
Micro stories are a content feature offered by $TIME's dev Woj. Handwritten and accompanied by art, they serve to deepen the story world we're creating here. Enjoy!
