Long after I had fallen asleep, there is a light knock on the door.
I wake with a start. Who could it be? Suddenly I am nervous. I continue to sit there, reluctant to get up. I yearn for the person on the other side, whoever he may be, to go away.
The sound of knocking grows louder. I pretend that I am far away. With every passing second, I feel the knocks grow more urgent and the knocking hand closing in on me. The noise swells and spreads helter-skelter throughout the pitch-dark room.
I keep staring at the door, with absolutely no intention of opening it. When I can no longer put it off, I am overcome by fear. No one will knock on our door at midnight without good reason, just to chat about tomorrow’s lunch or how the servant girl had not come in that day. Bad news is more than likely.