Read "Ashes to Ashes" by Isabel Ostrander online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
"I am the resurrection and the life -- " The white-frocked minister's voice rose solemnly above the subdued rustlings and sighing whispers in the little vine-wreathed church, and the stirring ceased. A robin peered in curiously at one of the open windows from his perch on a maple bough and chirped inquiringly, and the scent of lilacs was wafted in from the rector's garden to mingle with the heavier fragrance of lilies and white roses heaped about the casket at the altar steps.
It was such a small casket, almost like that of a child, and fairly buried beneath the weight of the floral offerings which banked it; a varied collection of offerings, for the costliest of hot-house set pieces mingled with sheaves of home-grown blossoms, and rare orchids nestled beside humble wild violets, but each had their place.