{"id":209,"date":"2026-09-12T15:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T15:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fantatv.com\/series\/daddy-s-boots-at-the-funeral\/chapter-1-the-boy-beside-the-boots\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T15:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T15:26:15","slug":"chapter-1-the-boy-beside-the-boots","status":"publish","type":"sr_chapter","link":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/?sr_chapter=chapter-1-the-boy-beside-the-boots","title":{"rendered":"CHAPTER 1. THE BOY BESIDE THE BOOTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rain fell softly over the military cemetery.<\/p>\n

Two-year-old Noah knelt on the wet pavement beside a pair of worn combat boots.<\/p>\n

He touched them with both hands.<\/p>\n

Then he began to cry.<\/p>\n

Behind him stood his mother, Emily.<\/p>\n

Her face was already covered in tears.<\/p>\n

A folded military jacket rested on the bench beside them.<\/p>\n

Farther away, uniformed service members stood beside a flag-draped coffin.<\/p>\n

Noah looked at the boots again.<\/p>\n

Daddy?<\/p>\n

Emily covered her mouth.<\/p>\n

She had spent days trying to explain that his father was not coming home.<\/p>\n

But Noah was too young to understand.<\/p>\n

He only knew those boots belonged to the man who used to carry him through the house every night.<\/p>\n

Noah pulled the boots closer.<\/p>\n

Daddy shoes.<\/p>\n

Emily knelt beside him.<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

Those are Daddy\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Noah looked toward the coffin.<\/p>\n

Then back at his mother.<\/p>\n

Daddy sleeping?<\/p>\n

Emily could not answer immediately.<\/p>\n

She wrapped one arm around him.<\/p>\n

No, sweetheart.<\/p>\n

He is not sleeping.<\/p>\n

Noah started crying harder.<\/p>\n

Then he reached for the boots again and refused to let go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rain fell softly over the military cemetery. Two-year-old Noah knelt on the wet pavement beside a pair of worn combat boots. He touched them with both hands. Then he began to cry. Behind him stood his mother, Emily. Her face was already covered in tears. A folded military jacket rested on the bench beside them. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-209","sr_chapter","type-sr_chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/sr_chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}