//------------------------------//
// Waiting For The Ones They Love 
// Story: Stuck On This Side Of Death 
// by grey mane 
//------------------------------//


“If I die, I will wait for you, do you understand? No matter how long. I will watch from beyond to make sure you live every year you have to its fullest, and then we’ll have so much to talk about when I see you again… (Bones)” ― Jeaniene Frost





It had been several years since I had seen the darkened figure with the crimson eyes; but I never forgot and often tried not to think about it out of fear that it would come back. Over the years I had taken the time to dig up what information into the supernatural I could get my hands on, but my family believed that such searching would draw evil to our door step so I kept it to a minimum for the time being. As the years progressed my mother had taken a house keeping job as a part time worker for an elderly mare (I will not use her name out of respect for the departed), when I first met her she was well into her 90's. She enjoyed having me and my brothers around as it gave her a feeling of what could have been, I had been tolled that though she was married at one point in time she never had any foals; as to why the only answer I was given was both her and her husband worked too much, and when they did finally have the chance it was too late.

As the years progressed she would allow me or my brothers to stay the night at the request of either my mother or Great Grandmother (she came from my father's side of the family and one of the more influential people in my life), this was allowed because several years prior somepony tried to break into her home only for the alarm to go off; since then none of them felt safe with out somepony else there with them. Though I wasn't sure what a young colt could do against a full grown intruder it was still nice to get to spend time with the elderly mare; and help out my mother and Great Grandmother with anything I could as an eight year old. Over time there where moments where I found my self in her home with no one around; these times came from when my mother had to take the elderly mare off for her doctors appointment, and though my Great Grandmother stayed behind with me she was often busy working on something I was unable to help her with.

In these moments I would try to find ways to entertain my self and for most eight year old colts what better way than to explore; there wasn't much of the house I didn't know but I still enjoyed doing it, roaming around hoping to find something new always brought a smile to my face. And though I had done this countless times for some strange reason it felt different each time, the only thing that bugged me this time around was I had seen several things my Mother had moved when she was cleaning; at the time she had placed a few small items in the wrong location but no one noticed or cared, but as I walked into the room I saw that many of these items had moved back to where they where before she had cleaned. The remote to the television had been left on the bed but I found it next to the television its self, the letter opener in the office had been left on the book shelf only for me to find it on the desk.

At first I had thought my Great Grandmother was the one who had moved them but last I saw she was working in the kitchen and this was done just before I entered the rooms, my next guess was my mother had put them back before she left; however she left with the elderly mare in a hurry hoping they where not too late for the appointment. As a young colt my mind jumped at the thought for a mystery believing I could discover something somepony else had yet to learn, grabbing the old magnifying glass that belonged to the stallion that once lived there for reading I started looking around; how funny I must have looked then. Looking around each of the unoccupied rooms I could find nothing but had the feeling that somepony was watching me; the first indication I had of this was I often heard hoof steps when I was standing still. I had even heard somepony whispering around a corner or two though I never once saw anypony, taking the time to look around for who this pony was I found nothing to suggest anypony had been there in the first place; I had thought it was my Great Grandmother having a little fun with me but I had just heard her start doing the dishes only a moment ago.

Though I wanted to continue to play around and solve the mystery I set the magnifying glass down on one of the beds in one of the back rooms, walking into the kitchen I asked my Great Grandmother if she wanted my help with the dishes; she smiled as she thanked me while opening the dishwasher. The machine was as nearly as old as the house so we gave the dishes a quick rinse before putting them in the washer, as we worked together she asked me what I had been up to. Telling her about the fun I had she smiled to hear what I had saw and done; but when I tolled her about what I had heard she chuckled a little as she patted me on the head.

Looking up to her I asked why she did that, "Oh because I know who did all of that and who was following you around." 

As I put the last dish into the washer I turned to watch her walk away, "Was it you Granny? It was you, wasn't it? You're the only other pony here besides me." 

Taking me back into the office she walked over to the desk and asked if anything seemed odd to me, looking at the old oak wood desk nothing seemed out of place; till I saw the magnifying glass. 

Picking it up I was stunned to see it in the office when I remembered setting it down else where, "About sixty years ago the owner of this house married the old mare your mother and I work for; and about twenty years ago he died of a heart attack right out side on the main back steps. I had been working for them for about five years by that time and one thing he swore up and down was that when he died he would wait here on earth till she passed before ever going on to face his judgement." Putting down the magnifying glass I started to feel a cold touch going down my spine, "He was always one for keeping things proper here and didn't like things to be out of place for very long, even when we had to clean."

At the time I didn't want to believe what I was tolled and often tried to pass the things I heard in the house to the place being as old as it was, a few years later the elderly mare passed from this world and had left everything to the decedents of her relatives that included the house. And though no pony came to claim it we where allowed to live in it till somepony said other wise, and for five years the ones who lived there was my Mother, Great Grandmother, and my brothers. I had often tolled them of the things I experienced hoping that they may have noticed the same things, but this was the start of them calling me crazy and saying it was just my imagination; and for a time I thought they where right. After three years of living there I was awaken in the middle of the night having heard a loud bang, looking out of my room I saw no pony was awake; rubbing my eyes I felt thirsty and started to get up out of bed. 

I was soon stopped by having seen some movement out of the corner of my eye, seeing a dim light shine into my room from outside I thought it was nothing. Navigating the house in the dark was nothing for any of us as we knew it like the back of our hooves, once in the kitchen I got my self some water only to catch a shadow moving away from me just barely out of sight; I called out to my older brother telling him to stop messing around. Making my way back to bed I stubbed my hoof into the corners of door frames; and often found my self trying to just lay down on the hallway floor. 

Once I was back in my room I called my older brother a jerk for trying to scare me as he lied in the bed in the corner, as I started to lay down I thought about how the light from outside was going to keep me up for a while; till I saw a the silhouette of a stallion pass right before my eyes in full view of the window then vanishing. 

Having been scared awake I lied down and stared a the ceiling as I thought to my self, 'Its all in my head right? It has to be, no other explanation than that.' 

Hoping that my thoughts would soon calm me down I started to recall what my Great Grandmother had said a few years ago, go figure from a house on an old cemetery to a home where some pony had died on the property; I'm starting to see a pattern for my life as of right now I live a quarter mile from a cemetery, though as of right now nothing has happened... ...yet.