I WOKE UP AT MY OWN FUNERAL

The first thing I heard was crying.

At first, I thought I was dreaming. The sound was distant and muffled, as if it were coming through a wall. But gradually the voices became clearer.

"Why did you leave us, Clara?"

That was my mother.

I tried to answer her, but my lips wouldn't move. My body felt heavy, and darkness surrounded me.

Panic crept into my chest as I reached out with trembling hands.

My fingers touched polished wood.

Cold.

Smooth.

Very close to my face.

My heart nearly stopped.

I was inside a box.

A coffin.

"No..." I whispered.

The word barely escaped my throat.

Then I heard another voice.

"She was too young to die."

My aunt.

I froze.

Die?

What were they talking about?

I wasn't dead.

I was alive.

I slammed my fists against the wood above me.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Nobody heard.

Outside, the funeral service continued.

The pastor began speaking.

"Today we gather to celebrate the life of Clara Williams..."

My blood ran cold.

They were burying me.

Alive.

Terror surged through me. I kicked and screamed with every ounce of strength I had left. The coffin shook slightly. Again I kicked.

CRACK.

A small split appeared in the lid.

Light poured through.

Hope exploded inside me.

I pushed harder.

The crack widened.

People above gasped.

Another push.

The lid burst open.

Fresh air rushed into my lungs.

I sat upright.

The cemetery erupted into chaos.

Women screamed.

Several people fainted.

The pastor dropped his Bible.

My mother collapsed to her knees, crying uncontrollably.

But I barely noticed any of them.

My eyes were locked on one person.

My husband.

Ethan.

Instead of looking relieved, he looked terrified.

As if seeing me alive was the worst thing that could have happened.

Then he turned and ran.

Something inside me shattered.

A husband whose wife returns from the dead should not run.

He should celebrate.

Cry.

Thank God.

Not run.

At that moment, I knew something was terribly wrong.

Hours later, I sat in a hospital bed while doctors examined me.

According to them, I had been declared dead three days earlier after a car accident on a rainy highway....