📦: The Gift on the Doorstep

🟫 Chapter 1 – A Sudden Absence

Josette, 70, lives alone in a quiet apartment building.

Twenty years ago, tragedy struck her floor: her young neighbor died in childbirth, leaving behind a newborn and a lost, overwhelmed father.

Naturally, Josette stepped in. She helped care for little Mehdi whenever the father needed support.

Until Mehdi turned 10, she was always there — a kind of honorary grandmother.

Then one morning… nothing.

The apartment was emptied. Their name scratched off the mailbox.

They had left. No goodbye.

🟫 Chapter 2 – The Signs Return

Years passed.

One day, Josette found a small box on her doorstep: a homemade cake.

No note. Just her name — “For Josette.”

The following week, a book. Then a card. A knitted scarf.

Always simple. Always thoughtful.

At first, she was suspicious. Then, she began to smile.

Someone remembered her.

🟫 Chapter 3 – A Gentle Investigation

She asked the mailman. No idea.

She checked the building’s security cameras — too blurry.

She left a note on her door: “Thank you, stranger. Your kindness warms these old bones.”

The next day, a card arrived.

Elegant handwriting:

“For everything you did.
I was 4, but I remember your crepes.
And the songs you sang while doing the dishes.
— M.”

🟫 Chapter 4 – The Reunion

She knew. It was Mehdi.

With help from the janitor, she learned he had moved back into the neighborhood two months ago.
He didn’t know how to approach her. But he had never forgotten.

They met on a bench at the local park.

He was 27 now. His mother’s eyes.

They shared madeleines. Laughed. Cried a little.

Josette whispered:

— I was waiting for you. Even if I didn’t know it.

💡 Moral

Sometimes, the strongest bond is the one that was never broken —
just quietly waiting to be revived.