MY FUNERAL IS EVERY TUESDAY

Friday

SEASON 3*

*Chapter 2: Friday

Clock says 9:01 AM Friday. First Friday in 124 years with no funeral at 9:02 AM.

We are not in blue house. Blue house is gone. Where blue house was, there is only oak tree. Same oak that had roots that drank blood 100 years. Now roots are just roots. No heart beating. Greenfield closed. Text said: _See you Friday - no funeral, just wedding cake._

I hold baby Elara Quinn. She is one day old. Born yesterday Thursday at 9:02 AM in blue house heart that stopped beating after 124 years. First generation free. Tag said BORN not DIED. No funeral. First Thursday free.

Elias holds my other hand. Husband. Not gravedigger now. Husband. Wedding ring silver scratched ELARA + ELIAS - 2026 still on finger but clean now, no dirt. He buried me five times at 9:02 and dug me up at 9:03. Now he doesn't have to dig.

Father holds pink suitcase. Empty for first time since 2015 when he came for $20,000 grandma life insurance and pushed me at fireplace at 9:02 AM October 22, 2015 and I wished. Empty. Not humming. No journals, no dress, no baby blanket bleeding. Empty. Finally empty after 11 years.

We walk to City Hall. Friday. Same City Hall my 45-year-old self said she married properly after Plot 9B wedding.

Hana is waiting outside City Hall. Scrubs off, dress on. Hair not messy for once. Holding cold coffee at 7:13 AM? No, now 9:01 AM and coffee is hot. She says, "Mara, you missed intake. No body at 9:02 Thursday. First time in ten years I worked at St. Agatha's. No Female 60s, no Female 34, no Female 0 days. Morgue empty at 9:02. What did you do in Greenfield? What did you do in blue house?"

I show her baby. Elara Quinn, 0 days then, 1 day now, gray eyes like Elias, mole under left eye like me, freckle star on tiny wrist Hana said looks like Orion. Hana said that in Chapter 1 when I found own body under sheet at 34 with driver's license photo with bangs hated.

Hana cries. Real cry, not silent old woman tears. "She looks like you at 29 but gray eyes. She is first baby born after 9:02 with no tag? Tag said BORN?"

I nod. Tag in empty pink suitcase now tucked inside blanket says: ELARA QUINN - THURSDAY 9:02 AM - BORN - FIRST GENERATION FREE - NO FUNERAL.

Inside City Hall, clerk looks at us. Me at 29 in wedding dress still muddy from Plot 9B but washed once by 45-year-old me who looped 16 years. Elias in black gloves off, scar above left eyebrow I love. Baby Elara Quinn in yellow raincoat too big that was mother's but now baby blanket.

Clerk says, "Name?"

"Mara Quinn. I was Elara Vance. Now Mara Quinn. Married at 9:02 AM Wednesday in Plot 9B. Husband buried me alive and dug me up at 9:03. Need proper wedding Friday."

Clerk looks confused. Then sees baby. "Child?"

"Our daughter. Elara Quinn. Born Thursday 9:02 AM in Greenfield heart. First generation free. No funeral. Born after 124 years of funeral every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday since 1902 when Old Man Crowe buried wife alive because she wanted to leave."

Clerk stamps paper. Same stamp Old Man Crowe used for 100 funerals. But now wedding stamp.

We say vows. Short vows. Same as Plot 9B vows but without dirt falling.

Elias says, "I love you, Mrs. Quinn. I love you, Elara Vance. I love you, Bean. Loved you since 19 and you smiled when fixed gate and called me Mr. Crowe. Buried you five times at 9:02 and dug you up at 9:03, always dig you up. Now no more digging. Only wedding cake."

I say, "I love you, Mr. Quinn. Mr. Crowe. Husband who waited 31 years. I give you whole week now, not just Tuesday, Wednesday. I give you Friday."

Father Dave Vance, 51, suit still too big, cries giving me away second time. First time in Plot 9B hole, he said "Bean, hold breath until 9:03." Now in City Hall Friday, he says same, "Bean, hold breath until 9:03, you held 31 years in loop, you can hold forever free."

Clock hits 9:02 AM Friday.

We all hold breath. Old habit. Loop habit. Every Tuesday at 9:02 someone died. Every Wednesday at 9:02 mother died. Every Thursday at 9:02 firstborn supposed to die. Now Friday at 9:02.

Nothing happens. No dirt falling. No roots through floor. No phone buzz from M.Q. or E.Q. No intake text from Hana. No body under white sheet in morgue. No Plot 9B breathing.

Baby Elara Quinn does not cry at 9:02. She sleeps. First baby in Greenfield history who sleeps through 9:02. She breathes normal. Not loop breathing.

Clock ticks to 9:03 AM Friday.

We breathe. Real breathing.

Hana brings wedding cake from morgue break room. Same break room where cold coffee at 7:13 AM on counter she leaves and never drinks and I always drink even though cold because live above laundry and laundry noisy. Now cake is warm, not cold. White frosting, not lemon cleaner smell.

Cake says: MRS. QUINN - FRIDAY - NO FUNERAL - FIRST GENERATION FREE

We eat cake with hands. No forks. Like wedding in hole we ate dirt. Now we eat cake.

Elias feeds me cake. I feed baby Elara Quinn tiny frosting on finger, she grabs finger strong like she grabbed yesterday when born and held breath until 9:03.

Father eats cake and says, "Tastes like 2015 before fireplace. Before I came for $20,000. Before wish."

Phone buzzes one last time. Not M.Q. Not E.Q. Not blue house. Not Greenfield. My mother.

Text from: ELARA VANCE.

_Thank you for marrying him, Bean. See you Sunday. Bring yellow raincoat. Bring baby. - Mom_

Mother texting. She died Wednesday at 9:02 AM. Tag said ELARA VANCE - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23RD, 9:02 AM - CARDIAC ARREST. But she volunteered Wednesday. Now she texts Friday. Because Wednesday done, loop closed, she can text after loop.

Baby Elara Quinn opens gray eyes like Elias and looks at oak tree where blue house was, where heart stopped beating after 124 years, and smiles. First smile.

Mole under left eye like mine. Freckle star on tiny wrist like Orion.

She is free. First generation free. No funeral every Thursday. No funeral ever.

We walk home. Not morgue. Not Greenfield. Apartment above laundry. Laundry noisy but now nice noisy, not late noisy. Apartment where I lived at 29 and wedding dress muddy and Hana's cold coffee.

We have wedding cake and baby and empty pink suitcase that finally empty.

And outside window, Plot 9B, which was 10 feet deep, then baby-sized 2 feet deep, now closed. Dirt flat. No breathing. No fresh mud. No fresh pink baby flowers. Just old leaves and worms but no iron, no blood.

And new small stone, not black polished like ELARA QUINN 2026-2026 THURSDAY grave that existed before born, but white, small, with fresh frosting:

ELARA QUINN

BORN THURSDAY 9:02 AM 2026

NO FUNERAL EVER

FIRST FRIDAY CAKE

First Friday cake, not funeral.

Clock says 9:04 AM Friday.

No more funeral.

*End of Season 3 Chapter 2 - 1500 words*