Sing It Back

You go quiet. It takes longer than you thought. The moon sits. The stones sit. The air has a note in it that was there before the grave was dug.

Then, from the left, short and short and long.

A ghost has come up off the nearest stone. It hums the three notes, and each one lights as it goes and goes out. Then it waits, with its small teal face turned toward you.

You have not heard the tune before. Your mouth knows where it goes next.

You hum it back. You miss the third note, and the ghost hums it again, without comment. You hum it back. The note lands, and your wrist ticks once. Another ghost comes up off another stone, and answers you.