Sul Campo Del Mare - Vilenica

V2-2010.PM51266/13/100, 12:13 PMBlaže MinevskiGrandma appeared out of nowhere and started whispering a story of thedead in order to lull me to sleep as she always did; for Grandma used totell stories of the dead as if they had been alive. She used to say that watershould be poured in a circle around the grave of every deceased, and thatthe grave should be sealed so that the ghost couldn’t cross the water. Oneshould pour water around the grave for forty days so that the ghostwouldn’t come out and wander around as if still alive, she said. “A vampireappears at night,” Grandma said when lulling me to sleep, “duringmidnight and the first cock. In the daytime it remains in the grave but atnight it comes out; at night it walks about as if alive yet it’s not alive as itcasts no shadow. Humans cast shadow but vampires don’t, my dear…” shesaid. “He’s asleep,” she added, and at that instant I opened my eyes andjumped out of my chair just as everybody else was getting up. Slaughterer,spitting as if trying to chew off his own moustache, reached in his pocket,took out some money and gave it to Neighbour: “Fuck you and your fuckingClay and your mother who didn’t stir and made you a burn-out!” he saidand turned off the TV with the same stick he used for hitting cows beforeslaughtering them. Neighbour stood by the door with a broad smile: withhis left hand he was holding up his pants, in his right one he held themoney which Slaughterer had given him and stroked his chin; the otherswere silently heading off into the darkness in disbelief over what had justhappened to comrade Clay in his first fight with Frazier; had Frazier indeeddrunk up his blood!? After that Neighbour headed towards the churchand I followed him, but at a distance, so that he wouldn’t think that I wasafraid. We passed the church and then the cemetery; we made a turn atthe only streetlight pole in the village and reached the path that led to ourhomes. The moon was full, one could see just like in the daytime. Neighbourin front of me was laughing with his shoulders. When he reachedthe flatland he made a right turn and then stopped for an instant twistinghis neck as if eavesdropping; it made me think that he was about to turn,but instead he laughed a rather strange laugh with both his head and shoulders,looked at the moon and proceeded towards the courtyard. When hewas just a few steps away from the door, he suddenly stopped, turnedaround and laughed his noiseless laugh, merely opening his mouth andraising his head as if trying to bite the moon. At that moment I realisedthat he cast no shadow. I came running home and must have stood withmy back against the door for god knows how long so that he wouldn’thave followed me in.I didn’t wake up before noon. There was nobody home, only Grandmawas bustling about her flowers which she had planted in front of the housein order to have a conversation partner in her morning exchanges. Nobodywas up as early as her. I had just washed at the faucet when shearrived with a bunch of flowers in her hands. She washed, tied her kerchief,picked up the flowers and looked at me: “Neighbour died at midnightlast night; I didn’t attend the wake; and he’s about to be buried today,”she said, made the sign of the cross and proceeded towards the yardnext door. I stood spellbound for nearly twelve rounds, and then turned126