The rain fell endlessly that morning, whispering sorrow against the tin roof as the funeral horns cried through the village. Beneath that gray sky stood a golden coffin — and inside it, a 25-year-old woman named Elena, loved by everyone who knew her.
Since marrying into the Louis family, she had been more than a daughter-in-law — she was their heart. Gentle, selfless, and kind, she filled the home with laughter and grace. Her mother-in-law, Mrs. Helen, often said, “Any family would be lucky to have a daughter-in-law like her.”
But one quiet night changed everything.
Elena awoke with unbearable stomach pain, clutching her belly and whispering through tears. By the time they reached the hospital, it was too late. She never opened her eyes again.
She didn’t hear her baby’s first cry. She didn’t get to hold the child she longed for.
The family was shattered. Mrs. Helen fainted in grief, and Mr. Louis sat frozen, his eyes locked on Elena’s smiling portrait above the coffin — a smile too full of life to belong to someone gone.
Then came the moment to move her coffin.
Eight young men stepped forward to carry it. They bent down… lifted… and nothing happened. The coffin wouldn’t move.
They tried again — straining, sweating, trembling — but it was as if something invisible held it to the ground.
Someone whispered, “She’s not ready to leave.”
And the shaman said softly, “Open it. She may still have something to say.”
The lid creaked open… and gasps filled the air.
Elena’s face was calm — but streaked with two long trails of tears. Her lashes were still damp. It looked as if she had just been crying.
Mrs. Helen collapsed beside her, clutching her hand. “Elena, my child,” she sobbed, “if you still have something left unsaid… tell me, please.”
Silence hung thick — until a cry broke through.
It was Louis. Her husband.
He fell to his knees, trembling, covering his face in shame and grief.
Mrs. Helen turned to him, voice shaking. “Louis… what do you know?”
He looked up through tears, and whispered —
“It was me… I’m the reason she couldn’t let go.”
