A Heavy Silence
The cemetery was wrapped in silence, as if the world itself had stopped breathing. Dark clouds hung low, and a light drizzle touched the freshly dug earth. Only close relatives had gathered—no one wanted to turn the farewell of an eight-year-old girl into a spectacle.
Her passing had been sudden, in the middle of the night. Doctors had spoken of a hidden heart condition, though nothing had ever hinted at it before.
The mother, dressed entirely in black, clutched a damp handkerchief, her lips trembling with every breath. Beside her stood the father, staring at one spot in the distance, frozen as though the moment had numbed his soul. The little coffin, covered with roses and small toys, felt heartbreakingly out of place against the gray sky.
The Last Goodbye
The priest’s prayer floated through the air, nearly lost in the gusts of wind. One of the relatives leaned over the coffin and gently placed a stuffed teddy bear inside—the very one the girl had held tightly during her hospital days. Heads bowed. Soft sobs broke the silence.
Then came the time to lower the coffin. The ropes creaked, the wood shifted. Suddenly, there was a loud snap, sharp like a tree branch breaking. A few people turned, confused, but before words could form—flames burst out from beneath the lid.
When Fire Erupted
For a second, no one moved. Then someone screamed:
— “Fire!”
The mother collapsed, fainting into the arms of those beside her. The family rushed forward, desperate, trying to beat out the flames with a jacket. The gravediggers sprinted to fetch a fire extinguisher, but the blaze moved too quickly.
The fire wasn’t normal. Its orange-blue glow spread unnaturally fast across the lid of the coffin. Panic rippled through the crowd.
Pulling It Back
One cemetery worker, once a firefighter, shouted urgently:
— “Pull it back up!”
Two men gripped the ropes with all their strength, heaving the burning coffin up out of the grave. Within minutes, the fire was extinguished.
When the lid was finally lifted, a collective gasp rose. The girl’s body lay untouched. Not a single burn. Even her dress was dry, as if nothing had happened. Eyes widened. Whispers spread. Shock and disbelief weighed on every face.
The police quickly took the scorched coffin away for examination.
The Cause Revealed
Three days later, the results arrived. The cause was not supernatural, but it was chilling in its own way: a lithium battery, hidden inside the stuffed bear, had ignited. The toy, it turned out, had a small nightlight function. Pressed tightly under the lid, the battery overheated, sparking like a fuse.
Yet even with this explanation, the murmurs didn’t stop. Many still whispered softly to one another:
— “Maybe… she was trying to say something.”