Stan was raised by his grandmother, despite having a mother. To be fair, his mum was a lovely woman—beautiful and kind. However, she worked as a singer with the orchestra and wasn’t home very often. The frequent trips had caused her to split up from Stan’s dad, who was his legal father. So, it was his grandmother who took care of him.
As long as Stan could remember, when he approached his building—a typical old block of flats—he would always look up and see the silhouette of his dear grandma waiting for him at the window on the fourth floor. Whenever she waved him off, she’d head to that window and wave goodbye, and Stan would always wave back.
But when Stan turned twenty-five, his grandmother passed away. Now, approaching his building and not seeing that beloved silhouette made him feel unbearably sad and empty. Even with his mum around, Stan still felt lonely. They hadn’t shared deep conversations or common interests for years, missing any real connection. They didn’t even discuss everyday issues, as if they were strangers.
A couple of months after his grandma’s passing, Stan decided to move to another city. His skills were in high demand, and he found a good job online with a company that promised him a generous salary and covered his rent. His mother was actually delighted. After all, her son was grown up and should find his own way, away from home.
Stan only took his grandma’s cherished cup for memories and a few clothes. Leaving the house with a suitcase, he glanced one last time at the kitchen window and again found it empty—his mum didn’t even wave him goodbye. The taxi quickly brought him to the train station, and soon he was in his bunk on the train for the night.
The next morning, the train arrived as scheduled. Stan registered at the office where he would work and started looking for a flat from the listings he had found online. Using the navigator on his phone while moving around the unfamiliar city, he incidentally noticed a block of flats similar to his old home. Though these buildings all looked alike, this one felt familiar, perhaps because its window frames were painted the same peculiar turquoise.
Drawn towards it, Stan headed for the building, wanting to reminisce about his grandma. As he got closer, he automatically looked up at the window where his kitchen should have been, and froze. He thought he saw the silhouette of his grandma. His heart almost leapt out of his chest, recognizing it immediately.
Though Stan knew it couldn’t be her, he turned away quickly, trying to be rational. But his heart cried out, “Stop! It’s her!” Eventually, he listened to his heart, turned back, and looked up again. The figure remained at the window.
Unable to hold back, Stan rushed to the building. Just like at home, the security on the door was broken, so he darted up the stairs and rang the bell. A sleepy girl in a robe, looking puzzled, opened the door and asked, “Who are you here for?”
“For Granny…” Stan stammered, bewildered.
“Granny?” The girl asked incredulously, then called into the flat, “Mum, someone’s here for you!” The girl watched Stan curiously as her mother approached.
Stan felt dizzy, as if his heart might stop. Another sleepy woman in her fifties appeared and the daughter joked, “He called you ‘granny’.”
“Wait,” Stan whispered, “I wasn’t looking for you… I saw my grandma’s silhouette at your kitchen window. I’m sure it was her.”
“Are you on something?” the girl mocked. “There’s no granny here, just me and Mum!”
Stan’s vision blurred as he apologized, “Sorry, my mistake…” He stepped back, lowering his suitcase, needing to steady himself against the wall. “I’ll rest here for a moment and then leave.”
The girl started to close the door, but her mum stopped her. “Hey, young man,” she said concerned, “are you alright?”
“Yes,” he whispered, lying. “Don’t worry…”
“I think your blood pressure is through the roof,” the mum observed. “Let’s get you sorted.” She guided him inside and instructed her daughter, “Vera, grab his bag and fetch the blood pressure monitor!”
Vera obliged, wide-eyed with concern. The woman sat Stan down and checked his blood pressure before ordering Vera to fetch her medical supplies.
“I’m giving you some medicine, just in case.” She told Stan they might need to call an ambulance.
“No ambulance, please,” Stan pleaded weakly. “I just arrived, haven’t even found a place yet.”
“Listen to my mum!” Vera chided. “She’s a doctor, you know!”
“Are you from out of town?” the woman asked.
Stan nodded, then repeated his request, “Please, no ambulance… I start work tomorrow…”
“Hush,” the woman replied, administering the medicine. “Have you had episodes like this before?”
“Never,” Stan whispered.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five…”
“Any heart problems?”
“I’m perfectly fine usually…”
“Perfectly fine? Your blood pressure is dangerously high.”
“It’s probably just nerves.”
“What made you so anxious?”
“I swear I saw my grandma, standing in your kitchen, watching.”
“Your grandma?”
“Yes, but she died two months ago… No grandmas here?”
“You’re a curious one,” Vera smiled. “Like I said, it’s only us two here. But if it’ll ease your mind, I’ll check the kitchen.”
Vera skipped to the kitchen but soon shouted, startled, “Mum! What’s this?” She returned with a cup in her hand. “Where did this come from?”
“That’s my grandma’s cup!” Stan laughed weakly. “It’s supposed to be in my bag… I brought it from home…”
“Where’s your bag?” Vera’s mum and daughter gaped, confused.
“There,” Stan pointed at his suitcase by the door. “The cup should be inside.”
Together, they rummaged through the bag but found no second cup.
This incident remains a mystery for the family, especially for Vera’s mum. They became Stans’ family when, just a few months later, she became his mother-in-law. Indeed, it was all quite mysterious.