Isa stayed in Unit 4B for three weeks before noticing the window across the hall. It wasn’t the kind of thing you normally paid attention to—not facing the street, not next to anything interesting. But every evening, just before dusk, the curtain in the window shifted slightly, as if someone behind it was watching and then retreating.
There was no name on the door. The building manager called it 'temporarily unoccupied,' though Isa sometimes heard faint footsteps from behind the walls. Once, while unlocking her door, she thought she saw someone move in the corner of her vision—a flicker, gone before she could blink.
She tried to ignore it. She had come here to reset—after the job, after the phone calls stopped, after the version of her life that she could explain to others unraveled. The apartment was quiet. Clean. Forgettable. That was the point.
On the twelfth night, there was a note slid under her door. No envelope. No name. Just four words in neat handwriting: *Do you remember now?*
She stared at it for a long time. Her fingers trembled slightly, as if they knew something she didn’t. The handwriting looked... familiar. But from where?
Isa taped the note inside a notebook and closed it, then walked across the hall. She paused outside the unmarked door. No sound. No light. Still, she felt it: the sensation of being watched—not in a hostile way, but like something waiting.
The next day, she asked the manager again. 'Unit 4A?' he said. 'Vacant since February. Pipes were leaking. Still under maintenance.'
'Has anyone else… tried to stay there?' she asked.
He raised an eyebrow. 'No. You’re the first tenant on this floor in months. Most of these are being renovated.'
That night, the curtain didn’t move. Isa stood at her door for a long time, then slowly turned the knob and stepped into her apartment. Inside, the note was gone.
She opened her notebook. The tape was still there—but the page was blank. No ink. No message.
She looked across the hall. The curtain had fallen still—but now it was open.
Q1: What element first introduces mystery into the story?
Q2: What is most likely symbolized by the window across the hall?
Q3: How does the author use setting to create suspense?
Q4: What does Isa’s reaction to the note suggest about her emotional state?
Q5: What abstract theme is most present in this story?
Q6: Why is the detail about the note disappearing significant?
Q7: Which tone best describes the passage overall?
Printable Comprehension Practice
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Q1: What element first introduces mystery into the story?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: The unexplained sounds from the supposedly vacant unit introduce uncertainty and suspicion early on.
Q2: What is most likely symbolized by the window across the hall?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: The window and its curtain movement seem tied to Isa’s subconscious, memory, or something unresolved.
Q3: How does the author use setting to create suspense?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: The author isolates Isa within a sparse, quiet building, using sound and shadow to create psychological tension.
Q4: What does Isa’s reaction to the note suggest about her emotional state?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: Her trembling hands and uncertainty about the handwriting point to confusion about her own memory and identity.
Q5: What abstract theme is most present in this story?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: The story revolves around subtle clues that Isa may be forgetting—or rediscovering—something important about her own past.
Q6: Why is the detail about the note disappearing significant?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: The vanishing note suggests Isa may be experiencing memory distortion or psychological disruption.
Q7: Which tone best describes the passage overall?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: The story maintains a quietly suspenseful, eerie tone rooted in subtle unease and emotional disconnection.