Vinod and his wife Meera were a childless couple. Their whole life centred around the orphan dogs they would pick up, nurture to health and give out for adoption.There would always be at least 6-7 of those homeless vagrants enjoying the parental love and care lavished on them.

Vinod, mindful of the nuisance his wards might create in the neighbourhood, had bought an old, sprawling house on a hillock in the less populated part of Philadelphia. The house, surrounded by thick trees, was practically invisible to the passers-by. On snowy nights particularly, the house would be totally isolated and cut off.

One such night, Vinod, Meera and their dogs were enjoying the fire in their cosy living room. A knock sounded on the door. The dogs picked up their ears in sudden alert. The clock on the mantelpiece showed 10. “Who could it be at this hour? With the house so shut off from the road, who would ever come so confidently and knock on the door?”

Thus wondering, Vinod opened the door cautiously. He was surprised to see a middle-aged lady waiting to be let in. She came in, hung her mousy coloured, snowflecked coat on the rack in the foyer familiarly. Warming herself in front of the fire, she asked, “May I please use your phone?” Vinod said, “Yes, but how did you know there was a house here? Did somebody direct you to this place?”

She explained wistfully, “You see, I used to live in this house as a young girl. The room in the basement used to be the children’s room. My parents occupied the master bedroom upstairs. We had such great times here. In fact, two of my siblings are even buried in the plot to the right of this house.” As she talked, she walked around the living room with a deep familiarity, feeling the tables and chairs with a lingering touch.

“My car has had a break down just down the road. But, since I knew this house was here, I came up to request you for the telephone.” (Cell phones were not yet in vogue)

They heard her in a daze as she talked to someone on the phone briefly. They also watched her in a helpless hypnotic stupor as she picked up her coat, thanked them and walked out.

Was it really a human being wanting help or was it one of the nocturnal visitors from the twilight zone, come to visit her old haunts?