The Sound of the Second Floor

Lexile: 1020 | Grade: 10

Passage

Elena had lived on the second floor for three years and still hadn’t met her neighbors. She heard them, though—footsteps at odd hours, distant laughter, the clink of a dropped mug late at night. The walls were thin, but the silences in between seemed even louder.

Every day she passed the welcome mat next door that said 'Come in, we’re kind!' and felt a tug of contradiction. No one had ever knocked. No one had ever smiled in the stairwell.

On a rainy Thursday, the power went out. Elena fumbled with her phone flashlight and opened her door, planning to head downstairs. But in the hall stood the woman from 2B, holding a candle in a jar. Her eyes were soft and unsure.

They both froze for a second, each caught in the surprise of the other’s existence.

'Do you want to come over?' the woman asked. 'I’ve got cards and one flashlight left.'

It wasn’t dramatic, just a small sentence. But it seemed to slice through months of invisible barriers. Elena nodded, and for the first time since moving in, she stepped into the apartment next door.

The hallway smelled like cinnamon and rain. And for the first time, the second floor sounded like home.