Widow's Park
Widow's Park is almost beautiful in summer. Flowers sway in the breeze alongside carefully kept paths, and a few trees that survive the harsh Skatchen winds twist and bend in shapes that might pass for artful. Closer inspection reveals named stones with dates lining the paths, each one memorializing someone who came here to die.
The park serves as Skatown's terminal disease quarantine and hospice, located south of South Bridge. When residents contract incurable or highly contagious diseases, they are escorted to Widow's Park under a community-wide policy dating back to the early recognition that disease spreads fast in a small community. Those who go voluntarily receive a named memorial stone to place anywhere in the park and enter the Widow's House, a small shack on the property, to wait out their remaining time in silence. Those who resist are dragged there by the Widow's Watchers, who guard and maintain the grounds.
There is one comfort, however slim. If a person passes through the Grave Mind and is cured, they are welcomed back into town. The possibility provides some hope, but it does not change the nature of the place. Every flower in Widow's Park grows from soil enriched by the dying, and every stone along the path carries a name that someone once called out to in better days.
The park serves as Skatown's terminal disease quarantine and hospice, located south of South Bridge. When residents contract incurable or highly contagious diseases, they are escorted to Widow's Park under a community-wide policy dating back to the early recognition that disease spreads fast in a small community. Those who go voluntarily receive a named memorial stone to place anywhere in the park and enter the Widow's House, a small shack on the property, to wait out their remaining time in silence. Those who resist are dragged there by the Widow's Watchers, who guard and maintain the grounds.
There is one comfort, however slim. If a person passes through the Grave Mind and is cured, they are welcomed back into town. The possibility provides some hope, but it does not change the nature of the place. Every flower in Widow's Park grows from soil enriched by the dying, and every stone along the path carries a name that someone once called out to in better days.
