She took one of the mysterious seeds and tossed it into her garden.  Little did she know that the seed belonged to a rare herb that had the power to heal Catalepsy.  Catalepsy is a rare disorder affecting all muscles in the body.  The body becomes rigid and may remain in one position for minutes, days, or longer.  The person suffering from catalepsy can hear and sense everything around him, but appears dead to the world. 

Before the advance of medical science, men, women and children suffering with this condition were actually buried alive.  Imagine the horrific feeling of a woman waking up to find herself underground, and inside a sealed coffin.  This happened before the embalming process was instituted. 

During the Great Depression, my grandfather, a grave digger, reported a mind-chilling event:  “The walls of the coffin had been covered with shiny white silk and there were gashes and rips where the man had fought with all his might to open the lid.  Blood stains were smeared all over the silk cloth and his shoes were badly scuffed from trying to kick the lid open.  His body was face down in his coffin.”

© 2008 Mary Vela. Original for CCF  (Vela grants CCF  first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).