It didn’t last, but I saw it.

“Come in,” she said, and slid the chain.

The apartment had already changed.

Four small coats hung over the backs of my dining chairs.

Four pairs of worn sneakers stood in a row in the entry.

One boy knelt on the rug arranging coasters into a pattern.

Another had found the motorized shades and was raising and lowering them with total concentration.

A third stood at the window with the whole city in front of him.