I read an online Independent article about Hans Christian Andersen, which went into some detail about his life and personality. He had many strange foibles, including this tidbit:
He positioned a note beside his bed every time he slept which read: "I only appear to be sleeping", in case anyone thought he was dead and buried him alive.
Did he indeed, how curious and amus...hang on, it doesn't make sense. If this fellow wrote all these imaginative stories he was surely rather clever in general terms, so it can't have been beyond his reasoning that the best note to write to persuade someone that you are not dead would read "I only appear to be dead". If you write "I only appear to be sleeping" it implies that you are in fact awake- the reader may even assume that the unspoken end of the message should read "....I am actually dead". Upon whispering your name gently, and not getting a response, the person inspecting you is bound to come to one of three conclusions; one, that your note is honest but that you are ignoring them. Two, that you are in fact asleep, and therefore a liar. Three, that you are dead, probably from whatever disease caused you to go a bit mental and leave notes by your bedside stating that you weren't asleep.
If, then, you have the misfortune to be exposed to someone so incredibly presumptuous that they bury people on the flimsy basis that they haven't moved or spoken for a few minutes whilst lying on a bed, such a note is likely to do you no favours whatsoever.