Everyone thinks of cemeteries as quiet places but, for today at least, that was far from true. The whole family was together for Thanksgiving, and that meant there was a multitude of teenagers with a lot of pent up energy. We were playing Hide and seek in the back yard but there were enough places to hide, so it got old quick. Jaron was the one to suggest that they cross the street and play in the cemetery.
At first we were a little reluctant. It was getting dark, and though we had flashlights it was still a cemetery. But as teenagers are like to do, we succumbed to his constant prodding and taunts about out lack of bravery and snuck across the street. Jaron climbed over and lifted the metal hook and let us all in. it felt like a criminal thing and that made it really exciting to all of us.
We played not realizing what our game might look like to someone who was not playing, and soon there were flashing lights outside the gate of the cemetery and we were being rounded up by several police officers. We stood in a long straight line, oldest to youngest and shook in out shoes. We were not as worried about the police as we were our parents.
All of the policemen but two left and then one of them came and stood towering over us, "So...who's the oldest here?"
Michael stepped forward, "I am Sir."
"What were you all doing in there? This is private property you know."
"We were laying flashlight tag, Sir. And no I thought it was public property, Sir."
"Hmm...Where are your parents?"
"In the yellow house across the street Sir."
"Let's go have a talk with them, shall we?"
The collective groan that came from out mouths made the officer almost grin, but he managed to stay somber looking as we filed across the street in our perfectly straight line. Once he rang the doorbell and my father answered we all darted in and ran for cover in the livingroom.
My dad who was shocked by the rush and the officer's presence was amazing calm, "Is there a problem Officer?"
"Your kids, I assume a few of those were yours, were across the street playing in the cemetery. Were you aware of that?"
"No sir I was not," he said looking over at all of us.
It was at this time my uncle stepped up and shook the officer's hand, "Was that a problem? I told them they could play over there...we always did as kids...it's kind of a rite of passage."
The Officer blinked and wasn't sure if my uncle was serious or not, "Well, yes Sir. It's private property and they scared the elderly woman next door about into a heart attack. She called the precinct scream about ghosts."
"Oh, that is unfortunate then. But between you and me she's been off her rocker since I was a teenager..."
My dad was turning beet red, "Officer...I can assure you it will not happen again." He said elbowing my uncle hard in the side.
"Keep an eye on them, or there will be a fine involved next time." He said and then tipped his hat and left.
We were still hiding behind the sofas and chairs in the living room trying to blend into the woodwork. My uncle came in and whispered, "You can come out now...the fuzz is gone."