
At the final whistle, the screen showed Spain one, Argentina nil after extra time. Neighbours below cheered for the side they had chosen. Upstairs, a boy drew the score on the steamed window, then added a door between the numbers. His grandmother asked why. He said the teams had to leave somehow. On the landing, two strangers who had argued over the match were carrying the same folding chair back from the courtyard. They set it beneath the window and watched the fireworks on someone’s phone. The boy erased the door. The score remained, fading slowly as the room cooled.



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