The Lonely Boy

All Souls Day is near. I remember one of the old circulating stories in our town about the student who always cut his classes- find out what happened during his escapade that changed his outlook in life.
There was this one high school boy who don't want to attend his classes. Every afternoon, he would wander off to the forest to play and escape the fury of his teacher. After eating his lunch, he would'nt return to their classroom, instead he would go off somewhere and spent the afternoon wandering or playing.
Then one day he decided to go to the cemetery just for fun. It was the 13th of October and Halloween is near. He laughed at his classmates when they said that it was scary there. So, after eating his lunch, he would do his usual "cutting classes" escapades and this time, he found himself walking the deserted and muddy paths of the cemetery. Upon reaching the middle of the cemetery, he heard someone say "Pssst". He turned around but saw no one. He shrug his shoulders and continue walking. Then, he noticed a figure from one of the tomb. He approached it and saw a young boy, about 5 to 6 years old sitting above the tomb. He come closer and saw that he was playing with melted candle wax.
"Hey kid!" he said. "What are you doing out here alone?"
"I'm waiting for Mama and Papa to fetch me. They said they will be back," the boy said in a lonely, quiet voice. He did'nt look up and continue playing with the candle wax.
"Ok," he said. "What time will they be back?It's dangerous here for a little boy like you to be alone."
"Why?" the boy asked innocently.
"It's quite spooky here you know..Ghosts, bats and monsters are lurking around," he said trying to frighten the little boy.
The little boy just laugh, obviously did'nt believe him.
"I'm not alone mister. There are many people around here. Look!" he said pointing his little finger at a distant tomb, but he saw no one.
Oddly enough, the air seemed to grow humid and he feel a strange feeling of being watched. The hairs at the back of his neck seemed to stood up.
He decided to leave the place immediately, completely forgetting the presence of the boy in front of him.
All Souls Day. He went with his parents to the cemetery to visit the grave of his grandfather. He chanced to pass by the grave where he last seen the boy sitting. And remembering their conversation, he approaches the couple kneeling by the grave, concluding that they were the boy's parents.
"Hi mam,"he began, "I just saw your son here a couple of weeks ago. He said he's waiting for you
here. I forgot to check back on him the next day."
He recalled his interaction with the little boy and describe him to them when they ask about the little boy's appearance.
The man looked at him - bewildered. And the woman burst out crying.
"What's wrong?" he asked, thinking that something might have happened to the boy after he lef him.
He was shocked and surprised when the man said -
"That was our son alright, but he'd been dead for almost a year now. He had died in this very spot, and we decided to have him buried here where we left him."
He look at the engraved time of death. October 13 --- chills run down his spine.
The woman said in an agonized tone."We left him here to buy some food. But when we came back, he was dead. Bitten by a snake. Oh I wish we did'nt leave him here." And the woman began crying again.
He did'nt know what to say. He felt fear for the very first time. And sympathy for the boy he thought was alive. He still could'nt believe it. He had actually talked to a ghost, and maybe the people he were pointing at were also ghosts like him, that's why he could'nt see them but feel them watching him. He felt the chills vibrating thru his nerves.
After that incident, he never cut his classes again and wander to remote places fearing he might meet another restless ghost. And he also learn to pray, he prayed for the peace of the young boy's soul and wish his poor soul would already rest in peace.