Graves
The Oertel Angel
A stone angel, worn soft by a century of weather.
Angels are the most common guardians in the old cemeteries, standing on their columns with their faces tipped toward whoever is buried below. The Oertel family picked a watcher, and the watcher has been on duty ever since.
Time has taken the sharpness off her — the folds gone smooth, the features softened. That is not damage, exactly. That is the stone going the way of the memory it holds.