Alive among the Dead

As I was making my way out of the cemetery, after visiting the grave of a loved one, I came to a sort of shaded glade whose shadows were suddenly broken by the glorious light of the sun which emerged from behind the clouds at that moment. This sudden bathing of the area by the brilliant rays of the afternoon sun stopped me in my tracks and I stood there taking in the strange scene around me in this place of the Dead.

For a moment the shadowy scene was bathed in light

Old graves that lay sealed for many decades now were bathed in an eerie light whose energy contrasted poignantly with the cold dark earth that was the last resting place of souls that had once walked upon it. Sunlight and shade now formed contrasting bands across the ground and a small voice inside me seemed to whisper: “As you are now, they once were, and you too will one day be. They were not spared, neither will you.” And then an unbroken hush ensued that was like the momentary holding of one’s breath or the tremulous instant between life and death. And I could not move.

I must have stood there frozen to the spot for no more than two to three minutes and yet when I came out of my reverie it seemed I had been standing there in a dreamlike state for hours. I felt a shiver down my spine and, as the sun began to fade behind advancing clouds and its light diminished, my legs were in motion again. I quickened my pace, in a hurry to reach the exit which was already in sight but could not come fast enough.

As I emerged from the cemetery into the street, with the sun streaming full on again, I was glad to be back among the Living, though I well knew that one day I would pass through those gates in a very different state and that on that occasion I would not be passing through them ever again.