Tuesday, October 14, 2014

A Short Story

I was invited to a party following the ghost stories at Crown Hill Cemetery last week. I am not one to turn down an event, even if it starts at 11:00!

I was one of the last to leave the storytelling tent as I was chatting away with friends and other storytellers. Finally I picked up all my things (bag, blanket, cape, etc.) and meandered back to my Jeep. Most of the cars were gone by then which made it a bit eerie, but there were a few folks leaving late like me. The lights in the tent were still on as the sound man was wrapping things up.

I put the new address into the GPS, situated myself in the Jeep, and followed the clear instructions. "Turn left. Take a right. Turn left. Turn left.") etc. 

I trust my GPS. I need my GPS, but on that night I don't believe it knew it was nearing the midnight hour as my Jeep continued weaving around the curvy roads of the cemetery. I reached a gate, however, it was chained and locked.

Now I know there are several entrances to the cemetery as it is so large. There are over thirty miles of roads with the 200,000 folks calling it "home". 

I started over and ended up at the same gate. Now I began to panic. I locked the doors (?) and started to look for the storytelling tent. It was as if it vanished. I drove around with headlights glaring on tombstones and old trees. Where was that tent? How will I get out of here?

After 15 minutes I finally found the storytelling tent and there was one last truck beginning to leave. Quickly I followed that vehicle and made my way to the front entrance and out on to the streets.

I was thinking if I didn't find my way out, I would have to call 911. But how to explain that one?  Hmmm... I got to the party a bit late.

All in all, I now have another good story to tell.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the story. Granted the Pioneers settling the west did not have GPS but I bet they had some sort of paper Map or a guide leading the way. In any event I certainly hope people have a back up plan to GPS such as a paper map. I bet the Cemetery has a PDF file of a map to print out etc etc. As large as it is there should be paper maps and roads clearly marked and directional aides. As often as you travel LH sounds like you need a plan A and a Plan B. Honestly, I don't know what I would do if your blog stopped suddenly.

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