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Authors: Daniel Cohen
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that all he wanted to do was look at his sister one more time. Most of the people knew him, and knew how close he had been to his sister. He was such a pitiful sight, and so persistent, that several of the local people said that they would open the grave themselves just to satisfy his request, and to keep him from making a further spectacle of himself.
The earth was soft, and so the digging went very quickly. The coffin was uncovered and opened. The grieving man then looked down on his sister for what he was sure would be the last time. He was standing there weeping when one of the people in the crowd thought he saw the "corpse" move slightly. At first he dismissed what he had seen as a hallucination. Then others in the crowd saw movement, and they began whispering to each other. The "corpse" actually began to shake itself, and people in the crowd started to shout. The grief-stricken brother nearly fainted in astonishment. Then the "corpse" actually sat up, and finally stepped right out of the coffin. The young woman had not been dead at all. Because of the disease, she had fallen into a coma and looked as if she were dead. If her brother had not arrived late for her funeral, she would have remained buried alive and surely would have suffocated underground.
People say that after "coming back to life" the woman lived for many years and raised a large family.
—————
Diane's family was wealthy and socially prominent, so when she fell in love with Ben, the son of a local laborer, her parents were not too pleased.
At first the family tried to ignore the relationship, hoping that it would fade away as most young loves do. But it didn't. Indeed, matters became more and more serious and intense.
Diane's parents forbade her to see Ben. That didn't work either, because they couldn't keep her locked in her room all the time. They tried to put pressure on Ben's parents to keep their son away. Ben's parents didn't want trouble with the richest people in town and would have been happy to keep their son away from Diane. But they didn't have any real controi over Ben's actions. Finally Diane's parents hit upon an old-fashioned solution—they decided to send Diane away.
She was sent to a strict boarding school, really more like a prison. No telephone calls were allowed, and the mail was carefully watched. Diane was miserable. But it was far worse for Ben. Cut off from his love, he seemed to lose interest in living. He got sick, and very quickly he just died. The doctors weren't even sure what he died of. His body had just given up.
Diane's parents were not evil, and they were overcome with remorse. They now knew they had done something quite terrible, but they couldn't bring themselves to tell Diane about Ben's death.
A short time later, Diane was returning to her dormitory at school when she saw one of her family's cars drive up. Most astonishingly, the driver was Ben.
He looked terribly pale and anguished. "My God Ben. What's wrong? What's happened?"
"Your family asked me to come and get you," he said. "I don't know why."
Without bothering to get permission or even to tell anyone that she was leaving the school, Diane jumped into the car.
During the long drive back, Ben said practically nothing. He usually didn't talk much, but Diane felt that his extreme silence indicated something was wrong. She was very worried about him. She reached over to touch his forehead—it was cold and clammy.
"Ben, are you sick?" she said.
"I'm all right."
"You must be cold. Here, take my scarf." She carefully wound her long woolen muffler around his neck.
When the car pulled up in front of the house, Diane jumped out and rushed inside. Her parems were surprised—no, shocked—to see her. They were even more shocked when she told them why she had come and who brought her.
Her father then explained to her that Ben was dead. But she refused to believe it. If he was dead, who had been in the car with her? When they went outside, the car
The earth was soft, and so the digging went very quickly. The coffin was uncovered and opened. The grieving man then looked down on his sister for what he was sure would be the last time. He was standing there weeping when one of the people in the crowd thought he saw the "corpse" move slightly. At first he dismissed what he had seen as a hallucination. Then others in the crowd saw movement, and they began whispering to each other. The "corpse" actually began to shake itself, and people in the crowd started to shout. The grief-stricken brother nearly fainted in astonishment. Then the "corpse" actually sat up, and finally stepped right out of the coffin. The young woman had not been dead at all. Because of the disease, she had fallen into a coma and looked as if she were dead. If her brother had not arrived late for her funeral, she would have remained buried alive and surely would have suffocated underground.
People say that after "coming back to life" the woman lived for many years and raised a large family.
—————
Diane's family was wealthy and socially prominent, so when she fell in love with Ben, the son of a local laborer, her parents were not too pleased.
At first the family tried to ignore the relationship, hoping that it would fade away as most young loves do. But it didn't. Indeed, matters became more and more serious and intense.
Diane's parents forbade her to see Ben. That didn't work either, because they couldn't keep her locked in her room all the time. They tried to put pressure on Ben's parents to keep their son away. Ben's parents didn't want trouble with the richest people in town and would have been happy to keep their son away from Diane. But they didn't have any real controi over Ben's actions. Finally Diane's parents hit upon an old-fashioned solution—they decided to send Diane away.
She was sent to a strict boarding school, really more like a prison. No telephone calls were allowed, and the mail was carefully watched. Diane was miserable. But it was far worse for Ben. Cut off from his love, he seemed to lose interest in living. He got sick, and very quickly he just died. The doctors weren't even sure what he died of. His body had just given up.
Diane's parents were not evil, and they were overcome with remorse. They now knew they had done something quite terrible, but they couldn't bring themselves to tell Diane about Ben's death.
A short time later, Diane was returning to her dormitory at school when she saw one of her family's cars drive up. Most astonishingly, the driver was Ben.
He looked terribly pale and anguished. "My God Ben. What's wrong? What's happened?"
"Your family asked me to come and get you," he said. "I don't know why."
Without bothering to get permission or even to tell anyone that she was leaving the school, Diane jumped into the car.
During the long drive back, Ben said practically nothing. He usually didn't talk much, but Diane felt that his extreme silence indicated something was wrong. She was very worried about him. She reached over to touch his forehead—it was cold and clammy.
"Ben, are you sick?" she said.
"I'm all right."
"You must be cold. Here, take my scarf." She carefully wound her long woolen muffler around his neck.
When the car pulled up in front of the house, Diane jumped out and rushed inside. Her parems were surprised—no, shocked—to see her. They were even more shocked when she told them why she had come and who brought her.
Her father then explained to her that Ben was dead. But she refused to believe it. If he was dead, who had been in the car with her? When they went outside, the car
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