“Hello…” she called out.

She pressed her forehead against the little glass window in the door. It was foggy from the cold air and impossible to see through. She banged her fist against the door’s oak, “is anybody home?”

Someone pulled back the door, sticking only their head out. Nosey, and looking for a clue in the background, she looked straight past them. She could see only an old staircase covered in carpet, and a single lamp at the top of the staircase, lighting up a wall-papered corner of a second floor hallway.

“Do you live here?” she asked, “I’ve been sent to deliver a package to the owner of this home.”

“Then hand it over,” the person said, reaching their hand out from behind the door.

“Nope. No, no, no, no. Can’t do that. You need to sign for it first,” she insisted.

“Do you have a pen?” they asked.

She scratched her head. I guess she didn’t think of that.

“Alright, fine. You don’t have to sign. Just take it,” she said, and shoved a brown paper bag into the person’s hands.

They stopped for a moment, reluctant to accept this… gift.

“Do you know who I am?” they asked between a growing grin. Their teeth were as yellow as the stains in their carpet.

“There’s no name on your package, so no,” she replied.

“You don’t remember me?”

She scratched her head and thought back to every possible interaction she’d had with a person in the last few years.

“Are you, like, my second cousin or something?”

Without missing a beat, the person retreated back into their home, slamming the door shut and turning the lock with purpose.

Puzzled, she walked backwards away from the door.

Was she supposed to know who this person was? Had she offended them?

She could see the stranger peeking curious eyes out from behind outdated paisley curtains. They were watching her.

Something was not quite right.

“I can see you, you know!” she shouted in their direction. She was clueless, but she was not afraid, and whoever this person was, they knew something she didn’t.

She stood in their driveway.

“Come out, then, with your silly package! I don’t know anything! They only sent me to deliver it!”

A loud, humming noise filled the neighborhood as the garage door slowly lifted. They should really get that fixed.

The stranger stood in the middle of the garage, holding the paper bag.

“Who are you? You’re scaring me,” she said.

“I’m scaring YOU?” the person replied.

They reached into the brown bag and pulled out a piece paper folded in half. They held it out towards her.

“Take it,” they said, “if you want to understand.”

She walked towards the paper reluctantly, and took it into her hands.

It was a birth certificate with her name on it.

“…mom?”