You did a wonderful job with this prompt, @kemmyb. While this prompt might have led to the writing of a horror story, you did not take that path. You explored instead an age-old but relevant theme: can humans overstep the bounds of what is natural? The Greeks dealt with this by showing the gods punishing humans who overstepped the boundary between what is 'natural'. In this case, Mara explains to her husband that he must not take for himself powers that do not rightly belong to humans.
Your description of motivation and character are excellent. The story arc is strong. Nice writing.
You absolutely right, ma'am. This story seeks to explain that exploring the unnatural usually leads to trouble. And also erroneous choices can be made because of grief. I'm glad Mara convinced Ben to do the right thing.
I appreciate your kind feedback. 🙂