The last light in an office building can signify dedication, delay, forgetfulness, or loneliness.

One lit window supports several completely different stories, and from outside you cannot tell which. Devotion, a delay, a light left on by accident, or someone with nowhere they want to go all look identical at a distance. Visible facts are compatible with many invisible situations.

Remember that before reading someone’s circumstances from a single sign, the long hours, the missed event, the unanswered message. Ask rather than infer. And if you are the last light, it is worth asking yourself honestly which of the four it is tonight, because the answer might change what you do next.