The Bone Orchard
Issue #542 Keith’s SciFiMusings Sunday, March 24, 2024
“They can always make more, you know.”
“What the hell do you mean by that? They can always make more. What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means just what I said. You need to stop getting emotional and pay attention. Look around you, Seymour. I mean really look around you. Half the people you know aren’t the people you know.”
Gina was my older sister and I loved her, but she could be creepy sometimes. I think maybe because, as my older sister, she probably figured that was part of the job description. But that summer evening, as we sat on the front porch watching the light fade out of the sky, there was something in her voice that let me know she wasn’t being creepy just for the fun of it. Not like the time a couple years ago when she told me there were these huge flesh-eating worms in our backyard that only came out at night.
“What do you think happened to Rachel?” she asked, explaining how teenage party girl Rachel had made the mistake of stumbling into our backyard late one night after coming home drunk. Worms got her.
Of course, I later found out that Rachel had simply run away from home because her dad had been forcing her to sleep with him, which also probably explained her overcharged drinking and partying. But Gina still never apologized for the lie, or for scaring the hell out of me. When I confronted her about it, she just grinned and shrugged her shoulders.
“Yeah, well. You know.”
So I probably shouldn’t have even listened to her that evening either. I should have just told her to shut up and gone back inside. Told Mom Gina was telling scary stories again. But before I could act on my reason for doubting her, it was like she already knew I wasn’t gonna believe her.
“I want to show you something. It’s just a couple blocks away. That way.”
“You mean that vacant lot? Why you wanna go there?”
“Because it’s not vacant anymore. But we gotta go now before it gets too dark. I mean it, Seymour. We have to go now if you wanna see. It proves what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“See what?”
“The bone orchard. I think they’re growing people.”
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