The First Evening

By Tuesday, the window was fixed. The room still had one unpainted wall, but Nina’s sign looked bright beside the door. At six o’clock, Leah turned on the lights and waited.

The first visitor was a bus driver called Ben. He wanted somewhere quiet to read before his next shift. Soon, two neighbours arrived with English books. They asked if they could read a short story together.

Omar helped them choose a simple text. Nobody had to read aloud unless they wanted to. After ten minutes, the neighbours began talking about a character in the story. They were using English without planning a lesson.

At eight, Leah asked everyone what would make the room better. Ben suggested a second lamp. The neighbours asked for a regular reading group. Leah wrote both ideas down. The empty room was beginning to belong to more than one person.