The Maintenance Bell
When Nora begins staying late at the museum archive, one small bell starts ringing from the service corridor after closing. At first, it sounds procedural. Then it begins arriving on floors that should already be empty.
Midnight Applause in 4B
After a breakup, Mara rents a quiet apartment to begin again. The building is elegant, old, and nearly empty on her floor. Then, just after two each morning, midnight applause begins behind the wall of unit 4B—measured, patient, and impossible, because 4B is supposed to be vacant.
