Walter got out slowly, standing a little straighter than before. Before he closed the door, he looked back at me. “Thank you,” he said. I shook my head. “I’m sorry it took me so long to listen.”
As I watched him walk inside—awake, grounded, finally safe—I understood what the night had almost cost him. Not everyone moving through the dark is a threat. Sometimes the real danger is how badly we want someone to be guilty.