One evening, two weeks after the miracle, with Alina already home and recovering, Stefan sat on the porch of his house. Milo suddenly ran to the gate, barking cheerfully.

An old man with white hair and a carved cane stepped into the yard. It was Vasile, the sorcerer from the neighboring village, rumored to see beyond the veil of this world.

“I felt I needed to come,” Vasile said, sitting beside Stefan. “To tell you what you already know in your heart.”

The old sorcerer explained to Stefan that some people — and animals — can sense the shadows of death… or the absence of them. Milo had felt that Alina’s soul had not yet left her body, unlike in true death.

“You and your dog share the same gift,” Vasile added. “That’s why you could hear what others could not.”

That night, while Alina slept peacefully in her room, Stefan lay awake, thinking about the wizard’s words. He suddenly remembered other moments in his life when he had felt inexplicable things — like when he knew the exact moment his wife had died, even though he was miles away.

In the months that followed, Alina’s miraculous story spread throughout the region. People came from afar to see “the girl who returned from the dead” and the dog who had saved her. 

One morning, as Alina played in the garden with Milo, she asked her grandfather:

“Grandpa, what did you see when you opened the coffin? Why did the hair on your arms stand up?”

Stefan looked at her for a long moment, then smiled.
“I saw your future, my little one. And it was far too beautiful to let it disappear.”