There was a knock on the door.

Jodie continued to scroll on her screen.

‘Who could possibly be visiting gramps at this hour?’ she muttered.

Wrapped up cosy in her neon pink throw, she snuggled down deeper on the couch and scrolled on her screen.

Jodie loved coming to visit her grandparents’ old Victorian house on the edge of the forest, weekends when her grandparents went travelling. Everything about it was retro, window shutters that rattled and squeaked, depending which way the wind was blowing, old travel trunk in the hall, covered in dust.

 Another knock on the door. Jodie was determined to get a  recording of the sound. There seemed to be an extra tap this time. She wondered how long it had been since the first knock on the door. She reckoned, probably ten minutes or so. Time seemed to move slower at Grandpa’s house.

Jodie’s twenty-something patience began to wear thin.

‘Why not ask Calexa,’ she thought.

‘Calexa’. Jodie called out ‘ who’s at the door?’

Silence reigned. Calexa’s green light glowed but all was silent.

Meanwhile, Jodie laughed and joked with her Social Media pals. They  checked out the latest movies and docus streaming on Ret flix. Nobody  could agree on what would be a fun watch for a snowy night of blizzard, all alone and comfy on the edge of the Widgerton Forest.

‘Tap, tap, tap, tap,’ this time there were four taps on the door and Jodie had proof on her phone. But when she tried to send it to her pal, James, it simply vanished.

Jodi called out angrily to Calexa.’ what the hell are you doing Calexa, find out who is at the door? After all you’re cool tech.’

Calexa’s light dimmed and lit up again and flickered and flickered again.

‘Calexa,  what is the matter with you? Why don’t you find out who is knocking on  the door?’

Calexa’s light dimmed low one more time.

Jodie joked and laughed with her mates about how Calexa seemed to be taking the night off or was busy washing her digital locks!.

A few seconds later all went dark in the room. Occasional flashes of lightning lit up the dark space. Thunder rolled in the distance.

‘Tap,’ a single knock on the door.

Jodie snuggled deeper into her neon throw.

 

At 7 a.m, Jodie woke with a start. Dawn was beginning to filter through the shutters. Jodie grabbed her phone and listened for the recording she had made in the night of the knocking on the door.

But there was no recording on her phone. ‘Who would believe her now?’ she wondered.

 Grey light of dawn was now filtering into the room. She decided to investigate.

Peering through the shutters, she noticed  that the cobblestones were still covered in a layer of snow. No footprints were visible by the door.

Slowly lifting the rusty latch on the oaken door, Jodie peeped out.  A branch of the ancient Yew tree hung low over the door, hitting it as the wind picked up.

Jodie laughed loudly at the sight.

‘So, this was the tap-tapping on the door during the night,’ she said to herself.

 

Farmer Andrew Greene was walking past in the laneway in his galoshes,

‘ HI Jodie,’ he called out, with a loud guffaw,’ Hear any ghosts tap- tapping last night. Takes a while to get used to the life of a country bumpkin.’  

Jodie wondered why her pale cheeks began to burn. Probably with embarrassment, she mused.

 

Jodie rushed inside and glanced at Calexa on the window sill. Her green light burned brightly.

‘Hi Calexa, can you teach me about the life of a country bumpkin.?’

Calexa’s light flickered. Before a long winded Calexa answer began to pour out, Jodie disconnected Calexa.

Grandpa’s key turned in the lock and Jodie ran to throw her arms around him.

‘Eh Jodie, ‘ Grandpa said,’ Happy to see your old Gramps, eh? Wonder what brought that on?

Perhaps Calexa doesn’t have all the answers even for Gen Z?’ Grandpa remarked.