Milk Bottles

It was about 6:30 am when many migrant workers came passing by Mr. Paxton's general store, he saw them all the time, their faces pale and blank. The Depression had captured hundreds of them and put them to work from any age. There was one older lady that stood out. She was very bedraggled and struggling to feed her family. Mr.Paxton was one of the lucky ones who still had his money coming in to feed his family.

The next day she came into his store, Mr.Paxton's general store was very quaint, white on the outside, rustic inside, and a couple isles of merchandise with a counter at which he stood. She was carrying two empty milk bottles, and wordlessly placed them on the counter in front of him. Mr. Paxton said to the old lady

"Hello what is your name?" and " What can I get for you today" while grabbing the two milk bottles.

"Zekoa" and "Can you please fill up the bottles?" said the old lady.

So he replaced them with full bottles, saying: "Ten cents, please."

She did not reply. She just took the bottles and left the shop. Mr.Paxton might have gone after her to demand his money, or called the police, but he did neither. Zekoa's need was in her face, and he always felt a little guilty at being one of the lucky ones with money and a job.

Zekoa was back the next day with the same two empty milk bottles. Therefore he replaced them with full bottles and watched as she hurried out the door. She looked so worried that he wondered if she had a job at all. Mr.Paxton said to himself

" If she comes back, I would offer her a part-time position cleaning the store."

Once again, she came the next morning, and exchanged her empty bottles for full without saying a word. He tried to talk to her, to ask if she wanted a job, but she practically ran from the store with the milk. Zekoa's urgency worried him. Instead of locking up the shop or checking anything he followed, wondering what he could do to help. To his surprise, she headed the other way from the migrant camp outside of town. As he kept following, he saw that she went to the Shadowfeet Graveyard. It was a huge graveyard with hundreds of stones, with bunches of flowers and crosses.

She hurried up to a stone marker and then disappeared into the ground. Mr. Paxton rubbed his eyes in disbelief and was contemplating if this was real or not

he said to himself

"I swear I didn't take any medication this morning!"

Then he heard a muffled cry of a baby, he looked all around the graveyard and no one was there. So he was walking to the tombstone and It was coming from the ground underneath where the woman had disappeared! He ran back to the store and called the police.

...