Prompt:
You’re attending a small funeral in a remote countryside church. The deceased was someone you barely knew—a distant cousin, an old teacher, a neighbor you never really spoke to. But just before the service begins, a well-dressed stranger slips into the back pew. They’re crying far too hard for someone who’s supposedly unrelated… and when the coffin is lowered, they whisper something that sends a chill down your spine.

Your Challenge:
In 500 words, tell the story of who the stranger is and why they’re really there.
Is this a tale of hidden love? Old vengeance? Mistaken identity? Maybe even something… supernatural?
Try to hint at a larger mystery or a secret past that makes the reader want to know more.

💡 Tips to Spark Ideas:

• Give your narrator a unique reason for attending—a sense of obligation, a forgotten promise, or sheer curiosity.
• Let the setting add tension: rain, creaking pews, a flickering candle, a name scratched into the back of a hymnal…
• Use the stranger’s appearance to create contrast: Are they overdressed? Soaked from a storm? Carrying an old photograph?