Alexei remembered every second of the day his life collapsed. He was twenty-five, full of plans, dreaming of a future with Anna, the girl he had known since childhood. She was his light, his family, his everything.

One tragic night erased all of that. A senseless argument, a single wrong move, and a tragedy unfolded. Alexei was arrested and convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
At first, Anna wrote him letters, full of hope and promises. Then, silence. And a few months later, the news came — Anna had died in a car accident.

The years behind bars blurred together in a grey haze. Alexei did not live; he merely existed. Only one thing kept him going: the promise he made to himself that one day, he would kneel at Anna’s grave, ask for her forgiveness, and tell her everything he had never managed to say.

When the day of his release finally came, Alexei had only one destination in mind. The city had changed — colder, more unfamiliar. But the old cemetery still stood, silent, patient, untouched by time.

He found her grave quickly. A modest stone, a faded wreath, the earth pressed down by seasons of rain and snow. He knelt, laying his hand on the cold stone, his heart pounding.

That’s when he heard it.

— She’s not here. But I know where she is.

Alexei turned around sharply. Standing behind him was a boy, no more than eight years old, thin and pale, wearing a worn-out coat. His eyes were deep and serious, far too old for such a young face.

— What did you say? — Alexei whispered.

— Follow me, — the boy said.

Without waiting for an answer, the boy darted between the gravestones. Alexei, heart racing, hesitated for only a moment before following.

They wove through the older, forgotten parts of the cemetery. The paths were overgrown, the stones cracked and covered with moss. The air grew colder, thicker.

Finally, the boy stopped at a neglected, barely visible stone, almost lost under weeds and dirt.

— Here, — the boy said quietly.

Alexei knelt, brushed away the debris, and saw it. Anna’s name, barely legible, worn by time but still there.

He felt the ground spin beneath him. When he looked up again, the boy was gone — no footsteps, no sound, nothing but the whisper of the wind.

A truth too real to deny

In the following days, Alexei sought answers. He went to the municipal archives and confirmed the impossible truth: when payments for Anna’s grave had stopped, her remains were quietly moved to the older section of the cemetery, lost among the forgotten.

But who was the boy?

Some of the cemetery workers spoke in hushed tones about a «little guardian,» a child spirit who appeared to guide lost souls.

Alexei didn’t know if he believed in ghosts. But he believed in what he had seen.
Someone had led him back to Anna.

A new purpose

From that day on, Alexei found a new reason to live. He began volunteering at the cemetery. He restored broken graves, cleared overgrown paths, placed flowers on forgotten tombstones.

Each act of kindness was a silent prayer, a tribute to Anna, and a wordless thank you to the mysterious boy.

Sometimes, in the misty mornings, he would catch a glimpse of a small shadow running among the graves. A fleeting figure, there and gone in a breath.

Alexei would simply smile.

He knew.

Sometimes, in the darkest moments of our lives, guides appear — silent, unseen, but undeniably real. And sometimes, they are not from our world at all.