My 8-year-old nephew stayed beside his mother’s casket throughout the entire wake, refusing to move as he kept whispering, “Please don’t close it yet… Mom told me to wait until I heard the sound.

For the first time that night, I realized he did not look confused.

He looked frightened.

Then the sound came.

A short, metallic buzz.

Everyone stopped.

It had not come from someone’s phone or the kitchen.

It came from Rachel’s dress.

“There,” Leo whispered. “I told you.”

Before Marcus could reach him, Leo leaned over the casket and carefully searched beneath one of the folds of the navy fabric. Seconds later, he pulled out a small black phone that was still vibrating in his hand.

Marcus immediately reached for it.