*Disclaimer: The story content deals with the death of a character’s father, but is fictional and made-up by our staff writers.*

Matt could feel that something was off. But he decided to ignore the pit in his stomach. He had more important things to focus on. It was the day of his father’s funeral, after all. He watched as the casket was lowered into the ground, all the while holding his weeping mother in a vain attempt to comfort her. His father was killed in a freak car accident last week, but somehow looked unharmed. Not a scratch was found on his body. Almost as if he had simply fallen asleep while driving. As the family said their final goodbyes, Matt wondered why the funeral director advised them to make it a closed casket. But he pushed these thoughts down and went on with the rest of his day like normal. As the next few weeks went by, Matt has started school. And one day when Matt was walking home, he passed the cemetery where his father was buried. But he suddenly heard a voice. “Matt…” Again, in the same chilled whisper, he heard his name called, carried by the wind. The voice was familiar, but there was no time to think. Matt picked up the pace as he walked home, checking behind him a dozen times. But each glance revealed no one was there. Then the whispering stopped as soon as he made it home. Matt sighed in relief, and went upstairs to do some homework. He relaxed in bed when he was done, and came to the conclusion that the familiar voice was just a product of his long day at school. He replayed the walk over and over again in his head, becoming restless as he thought about what happened. Then Matt decided to take his dog for a walk, in an attempt to clear his head. This time, when he walked by the cemetery, he decided to stop and visit his Dad. He sat in front of the headstone and started to tell his father about his day as if they were having a conversation. But then he felt the ground start to move. It was right under him. The soil beneath began to lift. He heard a thump thump thump. And that’s when it happened. Matt knew that this time it wasn’t in his head. It was real.