Father: Get away from there, Toby! Get back right now!
Toby: Look! Look inside! It’s Mom! She’s alive!
Grandmother: Oh my God! Oh my dear God, look at her!
Uncle Mark: Step back! Don't touch anything! Call an ambulance!
Uncle Mark rushed forward, shoving his hands into the jagged wooden hole Toby had smashed[span_18](start_span)[span_18](end_span). He yanked away heavy chunks of split mahogany, tearing his own hands on the sharp splinters[span_19](start_span)[span_19](end_span). The crowd inside the chapel pushed forward, screaming and gasping in horror[span_20](start_span)[span_20](end_span)[span_21](start_span)[span_21](end_span).
Uncle Mark: Hold on, Sarah! I’m getting you out! Hold on!
Sarah: Mmmph! Mmmph!
Father: How is this possible? She was declared dead at the hospital!
Grandfather: Move out of the way! Tear that lid off!
Uncle Mark and two funeral directors pulled hard against the brass hinges, snapping the lock mechanism[span_22](start_span)[span_22](end_span). The lid flew back, exposing Sarah completely[span_23](start_span)[span_23](end_span). She was trapped inside the casket, her hands tightly wrapped in grey duct tape and her ankles bound together with thick plastic zip ties[span_24](start_span)[span_24](end_span).
Toby: Mom! You’re breathing!
Sarah: Get it off... please, get it off!
Uncle Mark reached down and carefully peeled the heavy tape from Sarah’s mouth[span_25](start_span)[span_25](end_span). She gasped violently, sucking air into her lungs as she slumped against the silk lining[span_26](start_span)[span_26](end_span). Tears washed clean tracks down her pale, dust-covered face[span_27](start_span)[span_27](end_span).
Sarah: He did this... he put me in here...
Father: Sarah! Sweetheart, thank God! Who did this to you?
Sarah: Get away from me, Richard! Don't you touch me!
Father: What? Sarah, I’ve been grieving you for two days! I thought you died in that car crash!
Sarah: You lying monster! You signed the papers! You paid them!
The entire chapel went dead silent[span_28](start_span)[span_28](end_span). The mourners froze, staring back and forth between the traumatized woman sitting up in her own casket and her trembling husband[span_29](start_span)[span_29](end_span).
Father: She’s delirious! She lacks oxygen! Someone help me get her out and into an ambulance!
Sarah: Do not let him near me! Mark, hold him back! He tried to bury me alive!
Uncle Mark: Richard, stay right where you are. Nobody touches her until the police arrive.
Father: Mark, are you insane? That’s my wife!
Uncle Mark: I said back up!
Sarah pulled herself up into a sitting position, her small body shaking uncontrollable from cold and terror[span_30](start_span)[span_30](end_span). She looked straight at her eight-year-old boy, who was standing beside the broken wood with tears streaming down his face[span_31](start_span)[span_31](end_span).
Sarah: Toby... come here, baby. Come to Mommy.
Toby: I knew you were in there, Mom. I heard you scratching.
Sarah: You saved my life, Toby. My brave boy... you saved me.
Father: This is a misunderstanding! The doctor certified her death! I have the certificate right here in my coat!
Grandmother: Richard, shut your mouth! Look at her wrists! Look at the tape! How does a dead woman get taped up inside a sealed coffin?!
Father: I don't know! Someone framed me!
Sarah: The lawyer’s office... the trust fund... he wanted the life insurance policy!
Father: Shut up, Sarah!
Uncle Mark: You touch her again and I swear to God I’ll break you in half, Richard!
The distant sound of police sirens began to echo through the open doors of the chapel foyer[span_32](start_span)[span_32](end_span). Richard’s face turned pale white as he glanced toward the rear exits[span_33](start_span)[span_33](end_span).
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