Karma

Paul and Mary were very poor. They weren't always that way. Paul worked his way up to become a manager at the local newspaper and made a comfortable living which was enough to provide for Mary and their two children. He was forced to retire about twenty years ago due to layoffs at the local newspaper and his retirement savings were gone due to the stock market crash a few years earlier. They sold their home and were forced to live in a rundown apartment with a terrible neighborhood that had a lot of crime in the area. They had two children, a forty-eight-year-old son and a fifty-two-year-old daughter, but unfortunately they were selfish and didn't help their parents very often.

Although they were poor in wealth, they were rich in love. Their relationship was one of those that you often read about at a young age but seldom see played out in real life. They were together for so long that they even celebrated their fiftieth year anniversary. They cherished every moment they had together, always teasing and laughing and kissing each other. Instead of their love growing weaker and weaker over time, it grew stronger and stronger. One of their favorite places was the local cemetery where they would take long walks or lie on their backs and watch the stars together.

Unfortunately, good things don't last forever. One morning, Paul woke up to find that Mary had passed away in her sleep. Paul, having so much love for Mary, vowed to bury her in the nearby cemetery instead of cremating her.

He called his son and daughter to help pay for her funeral but they both said no. Paul expected this, though, as they never called or visited him and Mary since they only cared about themselves. He went door to door, asking everyone in the community to help pay for her funeral but they were all too poor. Eventually he asked David, the funeral director at the nearby cemetery, for help.

At first, David declined to help since he couldn't afford to just give away burial plots for free to anyone who asked. However, Paul was persistent and was determined not to take no for an answer.

"Mary is the love of my life and I will not let her be cremated! There must be something you can do!" exclaimed Paul.

Then David remembered the burial plot that his father, who previously ran the cemetery, made David promise not to use unless it was an emergency. The predicament broke David's heart and he figured if there was ever going to be an emergency that this would be it.

"I'll tell you what. I have an extra spot that I'm not supposed to let anyone use. I'll let you bury her there," David said to Paul.

And so Paul and David got a couple of shovels, took Mary to the burial plot, and started digging at the forbidden spot. They dug about three feet worth of dirt when suddenly David's shovel made a loud clanking noise.

"What was that!?" Paul exclaimed.

A few moments later they pulled a steel briefcase from the ground. They opened it up and found a bunch of shiny gold coins and a letter.

"To whomever needed this plot: May this gold help you through your rough times," said the letter.

They took the gold to an appraiser who evaluated the gold at ten thousand dollars which was more than enough to pay for a proper burial for Mary. Then Paul and David became good friends and David even let Paul move in with him until he passed away.

Author's Note:

This story is based on The Treasure, a Russian folktale, by W.R.S. Ralston. In the story an old man's wife dies and he asks people for help but no one offers to help, not even the village priest. Taking matters into his old hands, the old man digs a grave by himself and discovers a pot of gold. Then he uses the newfound wealth to pay for his wife's burial. The village priest, curious on how the old man suddenly got money, asks him what happened. When the old man tells him, the village priest gets jealous and devises a plan to get the money from the old man. Wearing a goat mask to impersonate the Devil, the village priest goes to the old man's house and scares him into giving up his money. When the village priest goes back home with the money, he tries to take off the goat mask but discovers that it's now fused with the rest of his body and he can't take it off.

I decided to make a number of changes including the plot, the ending, and changed elements to be more modernized. I also added more details to the old man and his wife's relationship, describing how they got poor and showing just how good their relationship was.

Bibliography

Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston