Owen

WE DIG IN SILENCE.

We've managed to clear more soil off the top of the tarpaulin. One of the guys has managed to lower himself into the pit and he's using a shovel, lifting up spadefuls of earth. More and more blue tarpaulin is gradually revealed beneath the soil, the color bright in the gloomy shadow of the trees.

It's slow progress but a shape is emerging. It's largish and long. A bulk inside it. A certain word keeps presenting itself to me. I keep pushing it away. No need to rush to any crazy conclusions...

And then I glimpse a small tear in the fabric, revealing something smooth and off-white.

This is when I heed the premonition that has been taking shape in my mind.

"I'll take it from here," I say.

I pay the men. Tell them to leave the JCB, come back tomorrow. Trying to act like it's no big deal. They've been paid already but I pay them more, cash. A lot more. Each throws a final glance toward the pit but on balance they seem only too happy to get gone.

I do the remaining work on my own. Finally all the soil has been cleared from it. I take a deep breath and then with clumsy fingers I lean forward and undo the ropes tied about the tarpaulin. The thing falls open surprisingly easily, as though it has been waiting for some time to reveal its secrets.

Jesus fuck.

I can't tear my eyes away. It's so familiar—the stuff of Halloween costumes and horror films. Yet I am not sure I have ever seen a full human skeleton before. To think that this is all we are beneath the skin.