The Sexton House

Episode 20

“Charlie. What are you doing here?” I
ask once the door is fully open to
reveal the old man.
“Well, Harry, I was just wondering why
you didn’t come into work? I could
have really used the help.” I totally
forgot about work today, I was so
excited about seeing Jane.
“S–t. I’m sorry, I was busy today.” I try
an apology, hoping he will just accept it
and forgive me.
“It’s alright, but you better be at work
tomorrow. There is a funeral being
held and I’ll need help.” I nod my
head, making a mental note to make
sure and go into work.
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow at eight
o’clock sharp.” I nod again, planning to
get up early to make sure I’ll be there
on time. I really don’t need to lose my
job, I would be screwed without it.
“Who died?” I speak up before he
leaves.
“I’m not sure, but all I know is that
person knew a lot of people. This will
be the biggest funeral we’ve had since
Anna Sexton died.” After that, Charlie
leaves without another word, leaving
me wondering more and more about
the Sextons.
I shut the door, head to the kitchen
and finish cleaning, hoping to get done
before it’s too late. I don’t want to be
late for work tomorrow.
After the kitchen is clean, I decide to
go upstairs, this time without being
frightened or even mad like the last
time I was up here. The door creaks
open like it would in any horror movie,
but I just ignore it and go on in,
turning on the light to make it less
eerie-feeling. Surprisingly, when the
lights come on the room is empty, only
the bed, a small nightstand and the
mirror are there.
I walk over to the mirror, seeing that
someone had fixed it, or at least tried
to. The reflection it shows is a distorted
one. Anna must have fixed it, but why?
Why would she want to fix something
that will never be the same again?
I step back from the mirror and
towards the window, noticing it’s still
broken. I forgot to fix it earlier, but
hopefully I can sometime tomorrow. I
head back downstairs and get in bed.

I wake to the sound of my alarm and
get up, heading for the bathroom to
take a shower. After lathering up my
hair, I start to rinse off the scented
soap. I dry off quickly, since it’s a bit
cold being wet and all. I brush my
teeth, then head for the kitchen to fix
myself something for breakfast,
deciding on toast and eggs since those
are fairly easy to make. Once finished,
I throw my plate in the sink and start
out the back door to meet Charlie in
the cemetery.
“Wow! You’re actually five minutes
early.” He exclaims, throwing his hands
in the air.
I just laugh and say, “Well, I did
actually put in some effort to get here
on time.”
“You mean you actually put in effort to
wake up?” He reads my mind.
“Yes, that’s what I meant.”
“Well, these chairs aren’t going to get
set up by themselves.” He motions to a
stack of white stairs, I’m guessing for
the funeral. We head towards an empty
spot where a grave is being prepared to
be dug. “Just start lining these up
around the tombstone.”
I do as I’m told and start unfolding the
chairs and placing them as directed. It
didn’t really hit me till last night that I
am actually working at a graveyard,
sure I knew I was working at one, but
it’s so depressing now that I’m setting
up chairs to be sat in later for
someone’s final resting place. To know
all these people will be gathered here
soon, weeping over the one they’ve
lost.
“That looks good. Now wipe them off,
they have been sitting in the shed for a
while, so they’re probably dirty.”
Charlie comes up behind me and hands
me a rag. I start to clean off the chairs
before people start showing up, and
once they do I stand off to the side,
hoping to see Charlie somewhere to ask
him what I can do next. I walk around,
trying to avoid the people, I’m not
really dressed for a funeral. I feel out
of place in my T-shirt and ripped jeans.