The Knocker

by Matthew Hamilton

There was a knock at the door. The three distinct knocks were creepy, gave her chills: the first loud, the other two soft. She knew he wouldn’t be there when she opened the door, but she opened it, anyway. She smelled rain, the wind blew, and cloud shadows covered the house. Leaves scattered across the porch, taking with them the secrets of the knocker that had been leaving gifts for the past three years on the anniversary of her husband’s death. She wasn’t a spiritual person, but when she looked down, there it was, on the doormat, a gift: a silver-white rose, her favorite flower, a secret only she and her husband shared.

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Matthew Hamilton is a US Peace Corps Volunteer serving in the Philippines.