During her husband’s cremation, a woman heard three muffled knocks coming from the closed coffin and ran to the furnace at the last second; employees assured her it was only the sound of wood, but when, at the wife’s request, the lid was finally opened, even the experienced crematorium employee recoiled at what was inside.
Anna had lived with Michael for over thirty years. During that time, they had been through a lot: they had started out with almost no money, had moved several times, had raised their children together, and when they had grown up and left home, they had found themselves alone for the first time in many years.
Michael had just turned sixty-eight. He was still an active man, he drove alone, worked in the garden and almost never complained about his health.
That’s why what happened that morning was a real shock for Anna.
She woke up around six o’clock and noticed her husband wasn’t beside her. She went downstairs and found him lying near the sofa. Michael wasn’t responding. Anna immediately called an ambulance.
The doctors tried to resuscitate the man for a long time, then one of them took the woman aside and told her that her husband was dead.
According to the first hypothesis, he had suffered a cardiac arrest during the night. Anna heard almost nothing of what was told to her afterwards.
The night before, Michael had been sitting opposite her in the kitchen, laughing and promising to make breakfast in the morning, and now he was gone.
The cremation was to take place two days later.
The children advised their mother not to attend the procedure, but Anna refused.
— I have been with him for thirty-two years. I will stay until the end.
The ceremony
After the farewells, the coffin was taken to a separate room. In front of the woman was a large metal furnace. Inside, the fire was already burning.
A crematorium employee placed the coffin on the conveyor belt and asked:
— Can we begin?
Anna approached her husband one last time, placed her hand on the lid, and whispered:
— Goodbye, my love.
After that, she stepped aside. The employee pressed a button. The coffin began to move slowly forward. Anna watched it through her tears when, suddenly, she heard a strange noise.
Toc.
The woman raised her head. A few seconds later, the noise was repeated.
Toc. Toc.
Anna froze.
— Stop.
The employee didn’t understand.
– What ?
— Stop the coffin.
– For what ?
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