The library at 7pm, just before closing

I was the last person in the building tonight — not by choice, but by accident. The librarian didn’t say a word when I walked in with my coffee, just nodded like she’d seen this before. I sat by the window where the light still held on, reading a book on celestial navigation I’ve been meaning to finish for years. When the lights dimmed and the silence settled, I felt something rare: not lonely, but full. Like the world had paused just long enough to let me be here, quietly, without needing to explain myself.