Essay: The pit in the woods

A September 2013 essay in SAGE Magazine.

"Behind the schoolhouse that afternoon we picked up a trail that the children said led to the cemetery. It had been cleared recently and was as wide as a car, even though we were hours from the nearest road. The trail passed through some scrubby farm plots and then back into patches of forest where candy wrappers brightened the leaf litter. The older children were nervous and excited, and the younger children were quieter than usual. Both my daughters wanted to hold my hand, and whenever I let go to count heads or hold someone’s hand, my younger daughter gripped my leg.

'Don Nigel, do you know how to get to the cemetery?' asked Paciencia.

'No, I’ve never been there. I thought you knew the way.'"

Read the article here.

Photo by Frances Buerkens