The Stone Place



              Everyone always said that Sammy had the coolest older brother. All her friends at school envied their relationship; the way he would always take her out for ice cream or French fries, the times he would come surprise her in class, or sometimes how he would just lift her on his shoulders and carry her around at the playground. All the adults could tell the two were inseparable and smiled fondly over memories of their own siblings. The two never seemed to fight and were always the best behaved and best of friends when together.
              Sammy herself knew that Kyle would always be there for her. He told her so. When the two were together, Sammy was as happy as a girl could be. Her big brother was her hero. He showed her all the best spots to find dragonflies (her favorite bug), helped her with her difficult math, and had even promised to teach her how to fight off monsters and bullies. She would always return his love too. She would sometimes stop by the store on her way home and get him his favorite candy bar – a large Almond Joy – with her allowance. Or, sometimes, she would sit and watch his movies with him, even some of the scary ones, though he would always protect her from the most frightening monsters.
              The two weren’t always together, of course. Sammy went to school every weekday, and Kyle’s job had him gone to other cities or even other countries more often than not. But that never bothered either of them. They would talk over the phone and the computer often, Sammy showing off the dance moves she had been practicing and Kyle smiling along brightly. Over the distance he still helped her with her math, still told her where to find dragonflies, and still instructed her how to be brave and protect herself, especially around The Stone Place.
              The Stone Place had always been an uneasy place for Sammy. She had only been there a few times, but she constantly felt a sense of grief and dread when she did have to go. The relative silence in an outdoor area coupled with the way all the adults seemed somber and sad always made her heart beat just a little faster.
But Kyle was always there to make her feel better. He would put his soft hand on her shoulder and smile down from over her. She knew it was a fake smile sometimes, but it still helped her to feel less scared. She knew that whatever hid among those stones, making this place so eerie, her brother would protect her from it.
The last time they went to The Stone Place was six months ago, and it had been the worst time of all. Mommy and Daddy were especially frightened and sad, crying the whole day and for many before and afterwards. Sammy felt Kyle’s grip on her, but somehow couldn’t be consoled. She knew that something about this trip was different, and she couldn’t hold back tears of her own. Kyle had no words to soother her this time and they simply stood in the crowd and wept.
Everything after this trip was different too. Kyle had just been gone for another work trip over seas and met up with Sammy for the first time at The Stone Place. When they got home, he told her he would be staying around longer than usual, and Sammy was elated by the news. Her parents, however, were not as excited. Their demeanors had changed; at first, they seemed to be sad all the time, and eventually they just became more tired and quiet. Sammy didn’t know exactly what was wrong, so she and Kyle tried to be out of the house as often as possible.
Sammy’s friends also became very different. They seemed to not know how to act around her anymore. It wasn’t that they were mean or non-inclusive, just that they treated her more carefully, like she was a fancy plate they were trying not to break. Games at the playground became less rough, conversations about family plans became muted, and nobody talked or asked about Kyle any more, even though he came to walk her home from school every day.
In fact, the only times that still felt normal was when she and Kyle were together. They would go exploring in the woods nearly every day, picking flowers and trying to catch bugs or squirrels. They would laugh and dance together, ignoring all the weirdness happening around them. Sammy would practice all the moves that Kyle taught her, fighting off tree monsters or stick faeries. On the long walks home, they would talk about the icky boys in her class, or about how the old hardware shop owner probably ate children. Sammy relished these moments and clung to every second with her brother as a bastion of normalcy in the strangely changing world around her.
For six months Sammy weathered the newly stormy waters of her life. While her love for and time with Kyle was as great as ever, she slowly found herself more and more affected by the times without him. Like everyone else, she became more somber and quick to fear and sadness. She tried asking her brother about it, but he could only tell her that the sadness was a natural thing that she was bound to feel. She did her best to control and hide it but couldn’t shake it away completely.
One day, while she was waiting to leave after school, one of the sixth graders’ mom came by with a big dog. He was a German Sheppard with a long snout and lots of bright brown fur. He looked over at Sammy and began to snarl a bit. Sammy could feel the fear rising in her, even though she knew the dog was on a leash. The owner tried to silence him, but the growls soon grew into loud, deep barks. Before she could control herself, Sammy was running down the sidewalk and around the corner of the school. She wasn’t normally scared of dogs, but these barks had been so cruel and her emotions so frayed that she couldn’t help herself.
 As she sat crying by the school wall, Kyle came up and sat down beside her, putting his arm gently over her shoulders. “Hey kiddo, that dog give you a little scare?” Through gasping sobs, Sammy nodded her head. “He’s not all that scary. He’s just a big ol’ fluffy dog, and I bet if you went up and asked he would be real friendly.” Sammy shook her head, not wanting to be barked again. Kyle let out a sigh and the two sat in silence for several minutes.
“You know,” Kyle started “I love you and would have done anything for you. But I can’t be there all the time.” Sammy wiped away the last few tears that were dripping and looked up at her brother’s gentle but stern face. “Pretty soon I’m going to have to go away for a very, very long time, and you’re gonna have to learn how to be on your own. There are lots of scary things in the world, but if you can face your fears of them then you’ll be alright.” He turned to look down at her and give one of his fake, comforting smiles. “I think the first step is for you to face The Stone Place.”
At the mention of that place, Sammy’s stomach did a little flip. How could she go back there, back to that place where everything had changed all those months ago? The fear began to well up inside her, and she felt the hot pressure of tears threatening to fall out again. But she looked up at Kyle, whose smile had become more genuine, and felt those fears subside. She trusted her brother, and if he thought this was best for her then she would go. Swallowing down her reservations, she whispered “Ok.”
The two walked hand-in-hand towards The Stone Place. They entered through the gate in the red-brick wall that surrounded the whole area. Sammy could feel the weight of the silence and hugged close to her brother. He put his hand on her head and they walked quietly through the frozen monoliths, shaped like angels and crosses.
Eventually, they reached the end of the paved path and stopped. On the grassy area just ahead of them stood one of the stones, smaller than some of the others, but the most terrifying to Sammy. She looked up at Kyle, her eyes asking if she really had to do this. He gave her another smile and nodded towards the stone, gently giving her a push. She took a deep breath, remembering how he had always taught her to put on a brave face and marched up to the stone.
She looked at the little curved stone ahead of her and grit her teeth. She could feel the tears behind her eyes again and tried to fight them. She thought she heard Kyle tell her it was alright, but knew that no words had been said. With his silent blessing, she let her sobs come out. But this time it was not out of fear. Instead, the release of her cries felt right, and felt brave.
Through shimmering eyes Sammy read the inscription on the stone:

Kyle T. Clark
1995-2018
Killed in Action
Loving Brother and Son
Semper Fidelis

With a shaky sigh, Sammy stopped the flow of tears and managed a meek smile. This place no longer held a dark feeling for her. Despite her puffy red eyes, she felt stronger than she ever had before. She knew things would never be like they were six months ago, but she was ready to face the world as it was now. She felt her brother’s hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see it, and found a dragonfly sitting calmly there instead.

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