On a crisp and sunny October afternoon, the Carpenters stood by a freshly dug grave. Emily Jane Carpenter rested in the simple wood casket her father Colton had made two days prior.
The widow Bridger, their neighbor who believed in the Pentecost, agreed to pray over the grave. “Jesus,” she said, “Please take this lost soul into your everlasting embrace. She was sinner like us all. But she got on them pills Satan brung to our holler. And she was sick and tormented by his evil demons.”
After the praying, each of them threw a handful of dirt onto the casket. Only Emily’s ma, Tracy, cried. No one made a eulogy.
Alone at the grave, Colton used the back of his shovel to pat the loose dirt down around the apple tree sapling he planted to mark it.
“It was a nice day for a funeral…goodbye baby girl. Rest in peace,” Colton said aloud.
Then he lit a joint and headed back to the little farmhouse for supper.
About the author
JD Clapp is based in San Diego, CA. His story, One Last Drop, was a finalist in the 2023 Hemingway Shorts Literary Journal, Short Story Competition. His stories have been published in numerous outlets. Twitter @jdclappwrties; www.jdclappwrites.com
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Succinctly vivid and evocative story. Well done!
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