Who Is Knocking?

The flickering gaslight cast long shadows across the autopsy table, illuminating the stark reality of my work. Tonight, it was a young woman, barely twenty, her life extinguished too soon in a single-car accident. Her skin, still warm, held a tragic stillness, a stark contrast to the vibrant life I knew existed just hours ago. I had seen her smile, heard her laughter, in the halls of the middle school where I worked as principal. She was a bright light, a star student with dreams as va