The night was unusually dark, and Elena couldn’t sleep. A sudden creak at the door made her freeze. She glanced at the clock—it was three in the morning. Who could come at such an hour? Through the silence, short, neat knocks were heard. Elena held her breath and tiptoed to the door, trying not to reveal her presence. She cautiously peered through the peephole but saw only darkness. Suddenly, a silhouette emerged from the shadows—standing at the door, as if waiting for Elena to notice.
“Elena, open up. It’s important,” came a muffled, familiar voice. Her heart stopped: it was her younger sister Olga, with whom they hadn’t spoken for several years after a terrible argument. Echoes of that quarrel still resonated in her soul. Elena didn’t know what to do. Her mind wrestled with emotions, and fear gave way to a mix of curiosity and pain. Why did she come now? Why this night?
She hesitated, standing in front of the door, when the voice behind it spoke again, this time almost in a whisper: “Lena, forgive me… I have nowhere else to go.”
In these words, there was despair and desperation, and something stirred inside Elena. She struggled to unlock the door, and there stood Olga, exhausted and overwhelmed, with dark circles under her eyes. Elena invited her in without asking anything. The silence between them was heavy but eloquent.
They sat in the living room, and Olga, looking down, began to tell the story that explained her sudden appearance. It turned out that her life had gone downhill over the last few years. Olga got into bad relationships, found herself in debt, and when there was no one left to hope for, she realized she was alone. At some point, it became clear to her that she had only one kindred soul left—her sister, with whom she had broken all ties. The path to Elena’s door became her last chance for salvation.
“I didn’t know you had your own difficulties, and probably I just got scared when we argued back then,” Olga said, holding back tears. “I had nowhere to go, and I couldn’t cope alone…”
Elena listened in silence, not knowing what to respond. All these years, she had been angry and hurt by her sister, thinking that she had betrayed her, but now she saw before her a person sincerely regretting their past. Elena felt how the coldness of her grudges gradually melted away.
Suddenly, Olga burst into tears, and for the first time in many years, Elena felt the desire to protect and comfort her. They sat together all night, talking, discussing their past, and recalling happy moments of their childhood. The resentment disappeared, giving way to understanding and forgiveness.
At dawn, Elena hugged Olga and promised to be there for her, no matter what. This night became for both of them the beginning of a new chapter, free from the past and full of hope.