Tap. Shovel. Toss.
Tap. Shovel. Toss.
Tap. Shovel. Toss.
Titania heaved more dirt out of the deep hole. She tried to keep it in a vaguely rectangular shape, but the moonlight cast dark shadows over the hole. She thanked whatever God was out there that it was summer, and the ground was soft.
She hoped the landlord wasn't drinking tonight. She didn't want him to interrupt this ritual.
Tap. Shovel. Toss.
Tap. Shovel. Toss.
Tap. Shovel. Toss.
The hole was about half a meter deep, and just wide enough to fit the little bundle she'd sneaked from the cradle earlier. She crept over to the lifeless lump swaddled in green fabric. Green. The color of life. How ironic, as the Teacher would say, that while her little sister had not a breath of life about her, she was wrapped in life.
Titania kissed the beautiful dead baby's cold forehead, humming the same song she sang to Timofei every night. It didn't rhyme at all in Russian, but when babushka sang it in English, it did. Nevertheless, Titania sang it in her native language, modifying some of the words.
"Oh, dear life,
So cunning and sly,
Quick as lightning,
Passing us by,
Silent as a ghost,
Don't make a peep,
Deadly as the Devil,
Oh, what innocence you keep."
Titania kissed the poor girl one last time and lowered her in the grave, almost falling in. She covered her pale face in the fabric and murmured a prayer she often heard her babushka pray over her grandfather. She picked up the little shovel she'd stolen and dumped dirt on top of the body.
She dropped the shovel and kneeled on the dirt, crying. "Люблю тебя, маленькая Анастасия." Anastasia, the name Titania had given her. The name of her babushka.
Titania wiped her eyes and hefted a piece of wood onto the grave. After many pieces of wood, it was sufficient enough to keep the wolves and foxes from coming to unbury the tiny body. She hoped someone would have the kindness to do the same for her when her time came.
But, seeing as that day was probably coming soon, her body would most likely be left to rot in the gutter.
YOU ARE READING
III: The Soldier and the Fairy Queen: Red Eve
Fanfiction(Previously titled 'LAZARUS') ______ Hopefully her heart would give out soon. That would be wonderful. To finally catch a break from this thing called life........ What is worth living for, anyway? ______ 'HYDRA is dead. Long live LAZARUS!' Who...
