Buried - On Sunday

Silas had passed on a Tuesday, mid-breath while pruning his prize roses. For five days, he sat in the chilled cellar of the local mortician, Mr. Gable, who spent the week polishing the mahogany casket until he could see his own tired eyes in the grain.

"Late to his own party," she whispered as the pallbearers stumbled slightly on the slick grass. Buried on Sunday

The bells of St. Jude’s didn't ring for Silas Vance on Saturday. They waited. In the village of Oakhaven, tradition wasn't just a habit; it was a contract. You lived by the seasons, and you were buried on Sunday. Silas had passed on a Tuesday, mid-breath while

The procession was a quiet affair of black umbrellas, looking like a cluster of beetles scuttling toward the open earth. Silas’s widow, Martha, didn't cry. She held a single white rose, its edges browning from the wait. "Late to his own party," she whispered as