Carlos was walking quietly along a sidewalk when he noticed a sign hanging crookedly off to the side of the road.

He stopped and straightened it carefully.

It was a for sale sign.

Carlos glanced toward the nearby house.

Something about it persuaded him to enter.

Not forcefully.

Just quietly.

The house itself looked ordinary enough from the outside, though slightly worn with age. Carlos walked up the front steps and gently opened the front door.

He half expected cobwebs and dark corners to dominate the inside of the house.

Instead, what he found felt surprisingly plain.

Lived in.

The faint smell of someone’s cooking still lingered softly in the air.

Carlos stepped inside cautiously.

Off to one side was a long hallway lined with doors.

Some were open.

Others were closed.

Carlos felt tempted to walk farther down the hallway and see what was beyond them.

The first door on the left stood partially open, and from somewhere inside the room came the soft hum of a fan.

Farther down the hallway, another door sat closed, though warm light glowed faintly beneath it.

At the very end of the hall, a final door remained shut, and from behind it Carlos could hear the distant drizzle of a running shower.

Something about all of it suddenly made him feel uneasy.

Not because the house felt dangerous.

But because it didn’t.

Carlos realized he was standing inside someone else’s life.

Quietly, he backed away from the hallway.

He felt like an intruder now.

Carlos carefully made his way back toward the front door, trying not to make a sound.

Then suddenly, a floorboard creaked loudly beneath his foot.

The sound echoed through the house.

A young girl’s voice called out from somewhere deeper inside.

“Mom, I think someone’s here!”

Carlos panicked instinctively and slipped into a nearby closet.

The closet door had narrow slats in it, and through them he could see the front entryway clearly.

A man and a woman hurried into the room and immediately noticed the open front door.

Something about their expressions made Carlos feel even worse.

They weren’t angry.

Just unsettled.

Carlos lowered his eyes.

He couldn’t remain hidden.

Not now.

Slowly, he reached for the closet door and pulled it open.