The road led them up a shallow incline toward the crest of the hill, where they were flanked by clusters of stones and scrub brush.  It was eerie the way the graves tilted in the soil, leaning toward the road as if the bodies below were eager to join them on their way into town.

In the last row, as they reached the top of the hill and the land spilled west in lumps of purple hills, the boys noticed that one mound of earth hadn’t yet been taken over with grass.  The dark soil had been freshly turned and a stout shovel stood in the dirt, its handle propped against a newly cut headstone.

No name had been carved on its face.

—————————————————————————–

I did something a little different for my response to Madison Woods’ Friday Fictioneers prompt this time around.

This week’s photo immediately reminded me of an excerpt from my work-in-progress YA novel. I figured I’d put it out there to give you Fictioneers a taste of my longer-form writing (albeit without context) and see what feedback you might have for me (I love constructive criticism, so let me have it)!

Check out the other stories (including Madison’s) and submit your own on the story page! Or, check out the links here: