My name is John Tollman, a 16 year old who was lucky enough to be driven by my uncle to help him with his work and by luck, I was ‘volunteered’ by my parents to spend the summer with him. He lives in a nice house but it came with the job, which is unconventional to the jobs people usually do. My uncle was the caretaker of a local cemetery.

He started working with his father at the same age as me and has worked there for 40 years. He always would tell me there was an honour to the job. Being able to ‘take care’ of those who passed, making sure everything was peaceful and right. Not forgetting about them and that even though they were gone, they should still be respected. He would also tell me stories about him and grandpa but he would always mention one thing that always caught my attention. He would always say that someone was always watching them. Something about that statement always bugged me. Logically he was meaning him or grandpa, when he was alive watching over the graves, but the way he said it. The way he said it made it seem that was not what he meant.

It wasn't too long before we arrived at the property. Down the road I could see the old Victorian style house. Alongside it were the many headstones that inhabited the grounds. I've been here a couple times before so I do know where everything is and such. However, just outside of the cemetery was a small wooded area which I was told not to go in. I was assured by my uncle that there is nothing wrong or anything, but he just can't see me if I wander off in there. Made sense but something about it always caught my curiosity drawing me into thinking more about it. We finally pulled up to the driveway and parked. My uncle offered me something to eat before he showed me the ropes of being a caretaker at the cemetery. We had some lunch, and while we were sitting at the kitchen table sitting near the window catching up on everything from the last time we saw each other, I began to feel the feeling of someone watching.

As we were talking, I looked out the corner of my eye and I could just see among the trees in the woods, a dark figure stood among them. My uncle asked if something was wrong, but I lied and told him that everything was ok. We continued to talk until we were finished eating and cleaned the dishes. We headed out to the cemetery where I began my training.. although there wasn't anything complex that had to be done. After a few hours of work, it started to get dark. My uncle called me from the other side of the cemetery near the house telling me it was time to head back in. I finished cleaning the headstone I was working on, then picked up the bucket of muddy water and scrub brushes before noticing that when I looked up, within the woods was that shadowed figure that I saw earlier.

They were standing there, barely visible because of the distance as well as the trees and bushes that they were standing among casting a slight veil of darkness over them as the sun was setting. My mind was flooded with thoughts of what I was seeing. I couldn't decide if it was a good idea to say something, or attempt to pretend that I didn't see them. My mouth however ignored any thoughts I had. I shouted across the way asking who was there.

The shadow didn't move an inch. Just stood there in the same position looking in the same direction. Something in my mind told me I should go, and I did, taking the water filled bucket and supplies with me. I quickly got to the house shutting the back door that led into the kitchen behind me. I told my uncle about what I saw and where I was. We both went to the window where we saw the figure standing at the headstone I just cleaned. We just stood there looking at whoever it was out there as they stood there looking at the grave. My uncle quickly walked out to confront this person, and I followed after him when I knew what he was doing. We both got closer and closer to the silhouette, my uncle questioning them as we did. He didn't get a response but I could hear his tone start to sound slightly fearful the more he tried to press the person for a response.

The closer we got, fear kept rising, making me feel panic and shaky. We were only several feet away when the silhouette disappeared. We stood paralysed from what just happened. We looked around until I saw my uncle pointing with his trembling hand towards the woods. He was looking at us in the distance, standing there for a moment before walking deep into the woods. We went back inside and my uncle called the police. After they arrived and looked around the woods, they found that there was no evidence of anyone living there or passing through. Everything was completely intact even the branches that lay on the ground weren't broken. The officer concluded that no one has been in the area for a very long time. That statement stuck out to me because it reminded me of the stories my uncle told. It confirmed that not only do we watch over the graves of those who passed, but there is also someone out there watching us.