At exactly midnights, daniel heard three soft knock on his bedroom door

 

He lived alone in a small house at the edge of a quiet forest, and nobody ever visited him that late. At first, he ignored the sound.

Then came three more knocks.

Daniel slowly got out of bed and walked toward the door. When he opened it, there was nobody outside.

Only a small wooden key lay on the floor.

It looked old, but something strange caught his attention. A tiny silver number—17—was carved into its handle.

Daniel picked it up.

Behind him, the bedroom lights suddenly went out.

He turned around.

A second door had appeared on the opposite wall.

Daniel had lived in the house for twelve years. He knew every room, every window, and every wall.

There had never been a door there.

His hands trembled as he moved closer.

The key in his palm became strangely warm.

He inserted it into the lock.

Click.

The door opened.

Beyond it was not another room.

It was his childhood home.

Daniel stared in disbelief. The old yellow curtains were still hanging beside the window. His mother's wooden chair stood in the corner.

Then he heard a familiar voice.

“Daniel?”

He froze.

It was his mother.

She had died fifteen years earlier.

Daniel stepped inside.

His mother was sitting at the kitchen table, exactly as he remembered her. She smiled gently.

“You finally found the door,” she said.

Daniel could barely speak.

“Is this real?”

She shook her head.

“No. But you needed to see it.”

On the table was an old photograph of Daniel as a child.

His mother pointed toward it.

“You have spent fifteen years wishing you could change the past. But you cannot.”

Daniel looked down.

Tears filled his eyes.

“What should I do?”

His mother smiled.

“Go back. And live the life you still have.”

The lights suddenly flashed.

Daniel found himself standing alone in his bedroom.

The mysterious door was gone.

So was the key.

But on his bedside table lay the old photograph.

For the first time in years, Daniel smiled.

Outside, the forest was beginning to brighten with the first light of morning.

And somewhere in the distance, he heard three soft knocks.

This time, he wasn't afraid.