Ribbons

My aunt lived near a grave yard and when the men would dig the graves she always sent them up some Kool-Aid to drink and sometimes sandwiches to eat. On one particular day there was a lady buried and she had some beautiful flowers and ribbons. My dad was out of town so we decided to spend the weekend with my aunt and make homemade fudge. My aunt and mother were talking about what a beautiful ribbon rug they could make when the caretaker got rid of the flowers. Well the more they talked about it the more anxious they become and decided after dark they would go up to the grave. While they were up there helping themselves to the ribbons a car drove by and they had to hide in the shadows of the grave. My mother accidentally rolled over on the grave and had a chill come over her and became afraid, so they left without getting all of the ribbons they originally wanted.

Later that evening, we were making fudge and all of us kids were helping my mom and aunt roll up the ribbons. All of a sudden my aunt screamed, “Oh my god, look in the window!” Talking about kids scattering we ran and hid under the beds and in the mist of us scurrying about my mom’s chair fell backwards and she hit her head. Well of course my aunt was teasing so she settled us all down and we went to bed. Later that night we awoke to the sound of scratching on the bathroom screen and we thought someone was trying to break in. My mom and aunt were afraid to get up. My mom decided she would go see what was making the noise. My aunt screamed and someone or something jumped on my back while I was in bed. I started screaming and soon all the kids were screaming and crying. Finally my aunt turned the lights on and checked my bedroom, the doors, and the windows; everything looked normal. So after a fashion we all went back to bed.

During the night a light snow fell and when my cousin opened the kitchen door to check out the snow a pool of fresh blood was outside the door. Well, my aunt decided it must have been from a hurt animal and thought no more about it. That evening she went to fetch the cigar box that held the rolled up ribbons and to her surprise the box was no where to be found. To this day we don’t know where the ribbons went or what caused the pool of blood. I’ve often wondered if it wasn’t the lady who took back what rightfully belonged to her.