THE WOMAN WHO KNOCKED EVERY NIGHT

the building manager stopped me near the mailboxes. He spoke gently, almost carefully, and told me he had heard what happened. Then he explained something that changed everything. Years earlier, a young woman who lived alone in the building had disappeared after failing to come home one night. Ever since then, the old woman had waited by her door every evening around nine, listening for neighbors who lived alone to return safely. She had noticed my schedule, noticed that I came home late every night, and her strange knocks were never complaints at all. She only wanted to hear my voice so she knew I had made it home alive.