Chapter 1: The Flowers Moved
Chapter 1: The Flowers Moved
“Just… let me see her one last time.”
Daniel’s voice broke before the sentence ended.
He stood beside the open casket in a black suit that looked too neat for the way he was falling apart inside.
His right hand gripped the polished wooden edge so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Inside the casket, Elena lay still in a black lace dress.
Her dark hair had been brushed over one shoulder.
Her hands rested over a bouquet of white flowers laid across her pregnant belly.
The funeral home was silent except for quiet crying, soft organ music, and the rain tapping against the tall windows.
Daniel leaned closer to her face.
Her skin looked pale.
Too pale.
But still beautiful in a way that made him feel like the world had made a mistake.
“Elena,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Then the flowers moved.
Not from the air conditioner.
Not from Daniel’s breath.
The bouquet lifted slightly.
One clear, sudden movement from beneath her dress.
Daniel jerked backward.
His face went white.
For a second, nobody understood what he had seen.
Then it happened again.
The white flowers shifted.
A woman behind Daniel stopped crying.
An old man with a silver beard lifted his head sharply.
Daniel pointed toward the casket, his hand shaking.
“Did you see that?”
The woman gasped.
“Call the doctors—now!”
Before anyone could move, Victor stepped forward.
Daniel’s father.
Older.
Tall.
Dressed in a black suit, face tight with something that did not look like grief.
He slammed one hand onto the edge of the casket.
“Daniel, stop this nonsense.”
Daniel turned on him.
“Nonsense?”
Victor lowered his voice.
“She’s gone. Don’t make this harder than it already is.”
But Daniel was no longer listening.
He stepped between Victor and the casket, his whole body trembling.
“She moved.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“She did not.”
The bouquet moved again.
This time, everyone saw it.
The room erupted.
Someone screamed.
A chair scraped backward.
The funeral director froze near the doorway, his mouth open.
Daniel reached into the casket and grabbed Elena’s hand with both of his.
It was cold.
But not stiff.
Not dead.
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“Elena,” he sobbed. “Baby, please. Please.”
👉 Everyone thought Daniel was losing his mind from grief — until Elena’s fingers tightened around his hand.
