Disappearing cemetery

This incident happened in 2002. I was 17 years old at that time. My mother and I went to a resort not far from Lauderdale. Peatlands were burning that year, so in the morning everything was covered with smoke and the smell of burning was everywhere. There were few tourists there, mostly pensioners and children. 

The only thing that could relieve the boredom was to rent a bike. I would get a bike after breakfast and ride it until dinner, studied the neighborhood. Abandoned beach houses, some potato fields. If I met a few people on the streets, I was lucky. Light haze, the smell of burning peatlands, empty country roads and gravel roads with vanishing signs. I wasn’t interested in anything supernatural then, I didn’t drink or smoke. Usually I didn’t plan the route, just drove aimlessly. 

That day was hot, quivering haze was hovering over the road. From the rustic country road I rode to the asphalt road. I was pedaling, grasshoppers were chirring on roadsides in yellow grass, there was no oncoming traffic or pedestrians. I looked around and realized that a cemetery was on both sides of the road. Big one, not to say endless, but impressive. The cemetery wasn’t very old, everything was modern - fences , monuments, wreaths. I didn’t notice any crosses. Tombstones were standard - black and gray granite slabs with photos attached. I stopped, looked carefully, despite the hot weather, I felt chilly because all the gravestones had virtually identical photos – wedding ones. White half - a bride, black half - a groom. People had different faces, but all photos were wedding ones. The cemetery tightly surrounded the road on both sides. There wasn’t a single visitor, only hot air quivered over the graves. I heard grasshoppers chirring and myself breathing.  

I wouldn’t say that I was very frightened, but I felt anxious and sad, so I speeded up, but the feeling was like I was in a dream. I was pedaling as hard as I could, the road was smooth, but it was difficult to ride, I was going very slow, like up on the hill, and my wheels were as if stuck in the sand. The cemetery wasn’t ending, dark blue fences and tombstones with pictures of smiling brides and grooms kept flashing on both sides. 

I was streaming with sweat, it seemed that I’d been pedaling for 15-20 minutes already. There was a feeling that the cemetery wouldn’t let me go and I’d be on this highway until the end of time. And the further I went, the more I wanted to sleep, although I ‘d slept very well at night and drowsiness wasn’t actually among my characteristic features. I wanted to pull over and lie down to take a nap. I can’t describe that feeling, but it was as if I was gently but firmly asked: lie down and rest. It beckoned me. 

Then my bike jumped on a burrow and the cemetery disappeared while wasteland began. It immediately got easier to ride. I was pedaling on that road for a long time without turning my head. I finally braked and looked at my watch – it stopped. The most striking thing was that it stopped exactly on 12, although this was my daddy’s military watch, so it was reliable. I reached the nearest village, went to the store and bought some bread and milk, and asked the saleswoman about the cemetery. She replied that there were no other large cemeteries here, apart from a small rural one five miles away. And where I came from, there were only some "fodder fields ." That's all. I didn’t feel scared, it was just that indifference and anguish piled on me. 

I got back to the resort from the opposite side. I decided not to tell my mother about what had happened, but I made up my mind to go there again the next day. I wanted to see the cemetery at least from a distance, making sure that it was real, and then go right back. 

I have a good memory, but I didn’t manage to find that place. The village with the store was there, half-empty suburban villages were there, but the cemetery of grooms and brides was nowhere to be seen. I’d been looking for it for 3 days. 

Many years have passed already, but sometimes I dream about that trip, very realistically, with details, like I watch a movie. After these dreams I usually get sick or have some other troubles. Even now, and I can’t understand what it was. But I did see it.