The staff looked at each other. With the rain pouring, any delay would fill the coffin with water.
Visitors mistook the scene for a movie set and started filming.
Sanford and Alice's mom tried to intervene, their faces contorted in anger, freezing the staff into inaction.
Suddenly, Alice's mom slipped on the wet mud and fell onto the coffin, accidentally sealing it shut and knocking herself unconscious.
As Sanford tried to pull her away, he inadvertently collapsed a nearby earth mound.
Mud and rain instantly sealed Alice's coffin lid tight.
"Ahh!"
"Ahh!"
Everyone turned to look at Sanford.
Only I stared fixedly at the freshly dug grave.
In that moment of sealing, Alice must have been awake. If not for their delay and the rain, she might not have been sealed in so tightly.
But the coffin was now filled with rainwater, and the dense mud made any struggle unheard.
Someone pointed at the grave, saying, "What a tragic death! With this heavy rain, the body will rot quickly. But did I hear someone inside screaming?"
Passersby shivered and rubbed their arms.
I glanced at Sanford, suppressing my disgust as I rushed into his arms.
"I've lost my best friend forever."
Ignoring Alice's mom on the ground, he desperately began digging with his bare hands on the grave.
But with the heavy rain and the muddy terrain, he couldn't find the exact burial spot within moments.
"Dig it open quickly! Hurry!" he said, trembling.
He wanted to continue digging but didn't know where to start. He was overwhelmed.
The staff watched him with pity and tried to comfort him.
"Are you her husband? Please take care. If you keep going like this, she won't rest in peace. Trust us. Once the rain stops, we'll sort everything out," they said.
I patted his shoulder. "Yeah, Sanford, trust them. These people here are professionals; they'll arrange everything, including the tombstone. Don't act like this, or people might mistake you for Alice's boyfriend."
I looked at him teasingly, but no one noticed my expression in the heavy rain.
