MY FUNERAL IS EVERY TUESDAY

Wednesday

SEASON 2

*Chapter 1: Wednesday*

I was dead in Plot 9B for exactly 7 minutes.

I know because Elias's watch was beeping. He has an old Casio that beeps every hour. It beeped 9:00, 9:02, 9:03, and then 9:09 while I was in the hole.

At 9:09, I opened my eyes.

I was not in the root cellar. I was in my bed. Second floor above the laundry. One bedroom, too many plants, fridge full of leftovers. Same as Chapter 1.

My phone said: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23RD, 7:13 AM.

Wednesday.

I survived Tuesday.

I sat up fast. I was wearing the same black wool coat from yesterday, muddy. In my pocket, something crinkled.

A note. My handwriting. But new.

_My name is Mara Quinn. I closed Tuesday at 9:02 AM by giving myself willingly. Greenfield is closed. But Greenfield has a Wednesday. E.Q. is coming at 9:02 AM today. Don't trust him. He is not Elias. - Mara, Tuesday 6, 9:09 AM_

E.Q. The text from yesterday: _Thank you for closing Tuesday. But Greenfield has a Wednesday. See you tomorrow at 9:02. - E.Q._

E.Q. is coming today at 9:02 AM.

I ran to the window. Downstairs, the laundry was open. Normal Wednesday. People walking.

Then my buzzer rang.

Nobody buzzes at 7:13 AM.

I went to the window. Downstairs, in no rain, in clean morning sun, was Elias. But not my Elias.

Same black jacket, same dark hair, same tall, but... different. His jacket was clean, not muddy. His gloves were brown, not black. He was holding a pink suitcase. My pink suitcase. The one that was empty yesterday and humming.

He looked up at my window and waved. Same wave as Tuesday-Elias, slow, underwater.

He shouted, "CHECK YOUR POCKET!"

Same words Elias shouted on Monday night in Chapter 1.

But this was Wednesday. And this was not my Elias.

My Elias has a small scar above his left eyebrow from a shovel in 2021. This Elias had no scar.

I shouted down, "Who are you?"

He smiled with Elias's face, but empty. "My name is Elias Quinn. E.Q."

E.Q.!

Elias Quinn. The initials from the text.

"Your last name is Crowe!" I shouted.

"Not on Wednesdays," he said. "On Tuesdays I'm Crowe. On Wednesdays I'm Quinn. Because on Wednesdays, I'm your husband."

Husband?

I never married. I'm 29, forensic mortician, single.

He opened the pink suitcase on the street. Inside, it was not journals. It was a wedding dress. White, muddy at the bottom, like it had been buried in Plot 9B.

And a wedding photo. Me at 29, in that dress, smiling, holding hands with Elias Quinn, in Greenfield Cemetery, in front of Plot 9B, which was open and empty and had a sign: RESERVED FOR ELIAS QUINN.

On the back of the photo: _WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23RD, 2026, 9:02 AM - WE FINALLY MARRIED AFTER 31 YEARS OF TUESDAYS - LOVE, MARA_

We married? When?

I don't remember marrying.

I ran downstairs, coat still on, note in pocket.

E.Q. - Elias Quinn - was waiting, holding the dress.

"You don't remember, do you?" he said, not mean, sad. Like my Elias on Tuesday 5.

"I closed Tuesday last night at 9:02. I gave myself to Plot 9B."

"Yes, you did. And when you gave yourself willingly, you broke the Tuesday contract but you made a new one. Wednesday contract. Greenfield always needs a contract. You closed Tuesday by marrying Wednesday."

"Marrying Wednesday?"

"Marrying me. On Wednesday at 9:02 AM. If you don't marry me at 9:02 AM today in Plot 9B, Greenfield opens again and takes the town. One wedding for one wish, same as one death for one wish."

He said it so simply, like a gravedigger explaining drainage.

I stepped back. "I don't know you. You're not my Elias. My Elias is Elias Crowe, 30, scar above eyebrow, loves me for 31 years."

"I AM your Elias," he said, and his voice cracked, and for a second he was my Elias. Scar appeared. Eyes warm. "Mara, it's me. On Tuesdays I am Crowe, the gravedigger who buries you. On Wednesdays I am Quinn, your husband, because you took my name when you married me to close Tuesday. But you only remember Tuesday me. Wednesday me you haven't met yet because Wednesday just started. It started at 9:09 AM when you woke up."

My head was spinning. Same as Chapter 1, but now Wednesday.

"Prove it," I said.

He took off his brown glove. On his ring finger, a silver ring. Plain. Scratched. Inside engraving:

ELARA + ELIAS - 2026

Elara + Elias - 2026. Same style as my mother's ring: ELARA + DAVE - 1996.

He had married Elara. Me.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a bundle of papers, same as Elias did on Tuesday 2 in the locker room.

Top paper: MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE

Bride: ELARA QUINN (formerly Vance)

Groom: ELIAS QUINN (formerly Crowe)

Date: October 23, 2026

Time: 9:02 AM

Place: Greenfield Cemetery, Plot 9B

Witness: Dave Vance

Witness: Dave Vance. My father.

So my father witnessed my wedding to Elias at 9:02 AM today... but it's only 7:13 AM now. It hasn't happened yet.

Second paper: a photo of my father, alive, crying at a wedding, holding a pink suitcase.

Third paper: my mother's obituary, but changed:

LINDA QUINN / ELARA VANCE

1966-2026

Died peacefully Wednesday, October 23rd, 9:02 AM

Service at Greenfield.

My mother died today? Wednesday at 9:02 AM?

E.Q. saw me see it.

"Yes. In the Wednesday contract, one wedding needs one funeral. If you marry me at 9:02, someone you love dies at 9:02. Tuesday needed a death. Wednesday needs a wedding AND a funeral. That's the balance. Your mother volunteered. She is 60, tired of looping. She said she will fill Plot 9B as funeral so you can have wedding."

My mother is going to die at 9:02 AM today so I can marry Elias?

No.

I already gave myself on Tuesday. I won't let my mother die on Wednesday.

I grabbed the pink suitcase with the wedding dress and ran.

I ran to Greenfield. Same run as Chapter 2, but Wednesday.

Plot 9B was open again. Breathing hole. But now there was a white arch with flowers. Wedding arch. And a black coffin next to it, open, empty, with my mother's name: ELARA VANCE.

And my mother, 60-year-old Elara, in a yellow raincoat, standing between them, holding two rings.

She saw me and smiled.

"Bean, you're late. It's 8:55 AM. Wedding starts at 9:02."

Behind her, my father Dave was in a suit, crying.

And Elias Crowe - my Tuesday Elias, with scar - was running from the other side of the cemetery, shouting, "MARA DON'T! DON'T MARRY WEDNESDAY ELIAS! HE IS NOT ME! HE IS TUESDAY WEARING MY FACE!"

Two Eliases.

One Elias Crowe, scar, muddy, running to stop wedding.

One Elias Quinn, no scar, clean, holding wedding dress, wanting to marry me at 9:02.

Which one is real?

And my mother is about to die at 9:02 to pay for my wedding.

Clock: 8:59 AM.

Three minutes to Wednesday 9:02.

*End of Season 2 Chapter 1*

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