Dusty Old Bones

Initially I viewed Mr. Bones as someone who must be extremely lonely. However, upon further examination, I don't think that is exactly the case. He lives with many ghosts. Good and bad, young and old. The memories of the travelers that came before us rest in his hands. A thousand or more are with in the walls of these caves. For that he is never alone. Perhaps he is a bit of everyone. Our flesh may rot, and out bodies become earth , but we always leave something behind. I'm sure Mr. Bones gets this, at least on some subconscious level. I don't think he cares though. He seems content wandering the caves and discovering treasures here and there. His most recent find was a carton of Chesterfields. I don't even think those are manufactured anymore. For those of you who don't know, Chesterfields were an unfiltered brand of cigarettes from the 50's. I believe Ronald Reagan even endorsed them. When he was an actor that is. So he found a carton of ancient cigarettes. Lucky for him, he discovered a matchbox from a cheap motel shortly after. He was like a kid at Christmas. He smiled and jumped in the air. He told us that he always preferred matches over lighters. When I asked him why, he explained, simply : "Aesthetics. I love the look of it, the feel of it, there is nothing like striking a match." I was never a smoker myself, and the idea of unfiltered cigarettes seems utterly disgusting, but he was happy. Plus he was already dead. So what was the harm? He puffed away and led us to a pile of ancient furniture. He grabbed a wooden chair and asked us to help him break off the legs. We kicked, chopped, and pulled the legs off. Mr. Bones took all four legs and tossed them into a pile. He struck a match and threw it on the pile of wood. He then sat himself down in front of the fire and watched the flames dance. He reminded me of Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on stage. Who knows he might have been Jimi Hendrix. He watched the flames and urged us to sit beside him. We did, with slightly less enthusiasm, but we did. "Don't be afraid of the fire." He said to us calmly. "Embrace it." He continued. We both nodded. Mr. Bones shook his head. "No, you don't understand. Walk through the fire." Olivia and I stared at each other. "You will both be fine." I got up and held Olivia's hand as she picked herself up. We looked into the dancing flames. We were both a little scared, but we figured if this is what we must do....