"The insistent door knocker pounds its way from the other side of the house up the stairs. It feels like three in the morning. No hum of passing traffic. I roll over in bed. 11.40 glows green. Peering out, I can see snow softening suburban sounds. I look at Jamie's unfilled half of the bed; my stomach churns.

More banging invades the snowy silence before I reach the hall. The opaque glass panel in the door hints at a figure, slight, practically childlike. I'm disappointed. Orange from the street lamp catches the snow falling onto whoever's out there, motionless except for a hand raised to knock again."

An unseasonal tale of snow and sleepless nights, by Martin Redfern, read by Trevor Fountain. Music courtesy of Gurdonark (http://ccmixter.org/files/gurdonark/34368).