Graveyard Soldier
Have you ever been dared to do something by your friends? Have you ever done it just to show them that you are brave? Were you scared when you did it? Were you proud of yourself afterwards? Whatever you may think, daring to do something does not always make you brave. In fact it might be one of the stupidest things you’ve ever done. And I have the a story to prove that to you.
After World War I had ended, three Romanian soldiers were coming back home. They were walking at night towards their home town, wearing their Romanian service uniforms, long grey coats, heavy boots and each carrying his bayonetted rifle over his shoulder. The war had finally ended and the young soldiers could not wait to see the faces of their loved ones.
At one point they passed a creepy graveyard. I am not sure why, perhaps the road towards home had made them cheerful or perhaps it was the night that decided to play tricks on them, the soldiers stopped before the graveyard and stared into the deadly silence. 
Suddenly one of them said to the others, ‘I dare you to go in the graveyard and stick your bayonet into one of the graves!’
The other soldiers laughed and elbowed each other. And the one that was dared decided to do it.
He entered the graveyard encouraged by the others. Chuckling and smiling at his friends he brashly marched in, the challenge meaningless to him in comparison to the gruesomeness of the war he had experienced.
The brave young soldier disappeared in the dark.
He didn’t come back.
When his friends realised he was taking too long, they went in after him. To their absolute horror, they found him lying there, dead. He was prostrate, next to a grave, his bayonet stuck into the mound…
The next day it was discovered that when the soldier knelt to spike the bayonet into the grave, he had accidentally gone through the hem of his coat at the same time. When he tried to stand up and leave, it was as if something was trying to hold him down, and he had had a heart attack. He must have felt as though something was holding him back, from the grave. Maybe something did?…
This is a true story, told and passed down by villagers through the generations. They do not tell it to show you that daring something can be a stupid idea, but for people to understand that a graveyard is a sacred place, and should be properly respected!
by Niguanta, of Romania.
www.niguanta.com