An Unfinished Story

There was a clatter, my heart paused in place,

a neighbor’s dropped keys, a moment displaced.

The sound ricocheted, shadows crept near,

a joke half-remembered, brought back old fear.

Thoughts of lost laughter, and doors left ajar,

drifting through corridors, whispers from far.

I stood in the stillness, searching for light,

but echoes of sorrow wrapped me up tight.