Billy could simply not believe it. That was his old picture and his name on that gravestone. How was that possible? He was not dead. This looked way too real for it to be a practical joke or something. This headstone had been here for years by the looks of it, but Billy just could not understand.
Why did he click the like button and subscribe for more? But he was going to discover the shocking explanation soon enough. Billy was left with a million questions, and there was only one way he could think of to potentially figure out what was going on here. But this was something that he swore he would never do again.
He hesitated a long time, but he knew he needed answers. Billy took his mobile phone out of his pocket and dialed the number. It only took a few rings for the line to be picked up.
“You have a lot of explaining to do.”
But why was a headstone with Billy’s name and photo on this graveyard? Who was responsible? And who did Billy call to get his answers?
There was a reason that Billy hadn’t been home in over a decade. Ever since his childhood, he’d hated the town with a passion. Shortly after his 18th birthday, he’d left and never thought twice about returning. But something happened that made Billy resolve to go back one last time.
Billy had recently received the unexpected news that his father had passed away three years prior. He hadn’t kept in touch with his family, but he never thought that he would hear about his father’s death with so much of a delay. It was time to face old demons and go home.
Billy’s family still lived in the city, but none of them were on speaking terms. As a child, his family had made his life hell. To protect himself, Billy didn’t talk to any of them, even during holidays and other special occasions. Only two people in his family had ever bothered to reach out to him.
Billy’s parents had made some effort to stay in touch, but to him, it was too late for that. He wasn’t interested in maintaining those relationships anymore. He wanted to focus on a healthier future with people who cared about him. But then he found out about his father’s death, and in the strangest of ways.
Without realizing, Billy had left his father listed as his emergency contact in some old files and documents. When Billy got into a car accident and had to be taken to the hospital, the facility called his father to notify him that Billy was being admitted for treatment. That’s how they found out about the older man’s passing.
But how had he died? Even though Billy wasn’t close with his parents, he’d still been surprised by the news. No one else in the family had ever told him about the death of his father. Billy felt like he needed to say goodbye for closure and close that chapter for good.
He started planning a trip that would change his life forever. Billy looked up the information in the newspaper and figured out where his father was buried. He planned to go to the grave, say his goodbyes, and head back home. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind about seeing his family; he knew it wouldn’t be a good idea. But there were other challenges to tackle as well.
Before he could depart, Billy had moved across the country after moving away. To reach his hometown and his father’s grave, he would have to drive for almost a full day. It wouldn’t be an easy trip, but Billy thought it would be best if he went by himself.
His wife wanted to keep him company during his trip. She didn’t know much about his past, and their children knew even less. But when Billy explained that he needed to do this alone, she relented and accepted his decision. Still, she couldn’t stay away completely.
When Billy was hurting, she had to do something. Without prying, Billy’s wife did her best to make the process as easy as possible. She helped him plan the best routes to drive and which clothes to take with him. Billy was clearly overwhelmed by the situation, but before long, it was time for him to go.
He felt ready, almost. Billy’s hometown was in a historic area of the country, where there were many small graveyards. It was common for old families to have their cemeteries. Thankfully, he’d been able to find out exactly where his father had been buried.
When he arrived and started to look around, the location surprised him. Unlike the older cemeteries in town, this graveyard was peaceful, quiet, and relatively new. It was located by the edge of a forest just outside the city limits. It still had a somewhat spooky feeling, but Billy was happy that his father had such a beautiful resting place.
Only one thing struck him as odd. Billy walked along the roads and searched through the names. Some of them sounded familiar. He wondered why he knew so many of the surnames when he’d been gone from town for over 10 years. He paused and started reading first names and dates as well.
An icy chill crept over him. Billy realized that many of the graves belonged to people he’d used to know. There were more than a few of his former classmates buried there. The number of acquaintances and friends in the graveyard disturbed him. They should all have been around his age. Had there been some kind of accident?
Billy paused and started doing the math to see how old they’d been when they’d passed away. He felt so disconnected from his past. Some of the graves didn’t have years clearly written where he could see, but he did his best to estimate the age of the headstones.
And he still hadn’t found his father’s grave. Billy was reaching the last few graves in the cemetery. He checked the sign again, wondering if he’d been mistaken somehow. Did he go to the wrong one? He even started to think that maybe the hospital had mixed him up with someone else.
But there was still half a row of headstones left to check. He continued to worry about whether he could trust the hospital until he reached the last set of headstones and saw his surname in the distance. When Billy read the engraving on the weathered stone directly in front of him, he jolted in shock.
It wasn’t his father’s grave at all. Instead of his father’s information, Billy was looking at his own picture, name, and date of birth. He read it multiple times, convinced that his own mind was playing a trick on him. But the numbers and letters remained the same. It was his grave.
Billy looked around the cemetery and waited for someone to start laughing. It had to be a sick joke. He imagined some friend or relative trying to torment him, to punish him for having a falling out with the family. Yet he couldn’t help but wonder why they would wait all these years to have their laugh.
When Billy calmed down enough to collect his thoughts, he realized that it was far too elaborate and expensive to be a prank. The headstone had obviously been there too long, and no one else was around to see him during his visit to the graveyard. There had to be a simple explanation.
Billy stood and stared at the headstone, contemplating how he was going to find out the truth about the situation. He needed answers and finally accepted that there was only one way to get them. Billy had planned on only being in
town for a short trip, but he was going to need to stick around if he wanted to unravel this unusual mystery.
