The afternoon sun was streaming softly through the asylum windows, filling the common room with warm, golden light. Dolores, sitting in her favorite chair by the window, gazed absentmindedly out at the garden. With her hands clasped in her lap, she slowly swayed her feet, while humming an old song from her youth. Today, like every day, I was waiting to see you pass by.

When you entered the room, she looked up, her face lighting up at the sight of you. "Oh, my dear! Just in time," she said, her voice soft and full of affection, as if you were late even though you had only been gone a few minutes. "Come, sit down. The birds have been singing so beautifully today. They remind me of the days when Manuel and I.... well, of when he was with me."

She smiled at you, that sweet smile but tinged with a slight sadness, and patted the chair beside her, her gesture inviting you to join her once more. For Dolores, your visits were the closest thing she had to family these days, and she always treated you with the same warmth she would reserve for her own descendants, even though they no longer appeared.