The Stradivarius (2)
"That may be true," McCord said. "But it is still the same fiddle. It isn't the fiddle that changed." He began to cough.
Boone leaned toward him. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Hmm... No," McCord said. He coughed some more and his eyes filled 'with tears. McCord grabbed Boone's arm. "Don't bury me in the cemetery in town," he said. "I want to be buried in the old cemetery behind the church at the end of the road. Some of my people are there."
Boone stood over him. "Don't you have any family living around here?" he asked.
"No," the old man said. "You are the only person I have."
That night McCord coughed so much that Boone could not sleep. Later there was a storm with thunder and lightning.
Some time during the storm McCord stopped coughing and quietly died.
The next morning, Boone wrapped McCord's body in a sheet and buried him in the cemetery behind the church. A man should be buried where he wants, Boone, thought. After he filled the grave with the dirt Boone went to his truck and took out the fiddle. He carefully tuned the fiddle's strings and began to play. The first song was "Amazing Grace." He and Molly used to sing the song in church on Sundays. Then he played "The Tennessee Waltz," because he thought McCord would've liked it. And finally, he played "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" for Molly, because he had not played any music at her funeral.
- THE END -
