At the police station, they mocked an eighty-year-old man and didn’t even take his complaint. But the officers had no idea who this elderly man really was, nor what would happen when the station chief walked into the office.

At the police station, they mocked an eighty-year-old man and didn’t even take his complaint. But the officers had no idea who this old man really was, nor what would happen when the station chief walked into the office.

The old man woke up in the middle of the night and stared into the darkness. It was two in the morning. Outside, it was pitch black, but the neighbors were still making noise. Voices could be heard; a man was talking loudly, then a woman started laughing. They had the music blasting.

The old man was almost eighty years old; his heart was failing, but his hearing was still far too poor. He put on his old bathrobe and slowly left his apartment, heading for the next door.

The old man pressed the doorbell.

A few seconds later, the door opened and a young woman appeared in the doorway. Bright makeup, a bottle in her hand, the smell of alcohol.

“What do you want, old man?” she asked lazily.

“It’s already two in the morning. I can’t sleep. You’re making far too much noise.”

The young woman rolled her eyes and shouted into the apartment:

“Do you hear that? The old man’s complaining again!”

From the depths of the apartment emerged her new companion. Enormous, with a heavy gaze and a beer belly.

“So what’s the problem?” he sneered. “Take some pills and you’ll fall asleep.”

The woman burst out laughing loudly, and the man slammed the door in front of the old man’s face.

The old man stood on the landing for a few more seconds. He had already called the police before, but by the time the officers arrived, the neighbors had usually calmed down. Downstairs lived an elderly couple who barely heard anything, and the building manager simply shrugged and advised them to “sort it out.”

The old man returned to his apartment, took his medication, and went to bed.

When he finally fell asleep, memories of the past resurfaced before his eyes.

He and his wife were sitting in the kitchen. Their only son was standing by the window, explaining that he had been accepted into a military academy.

“My son, military service is dangerous. Perhaps you should think about it?”

But then the old man said something else.

“You should be proud of it. A true man must serve his country.”

He patted his son on the shoulder and uttered words that, for many years, would haunt him.

“Our grandfather was a hero. And you will be too.”

The dream always ended the same way.

A gray corridor. A soldier at the door. Calm words saying that his son had died on a special mission. His wife’s scream, the ambulance, and emptiness.

The old man woke up, breathing heavily. Twenty years had passed, but the guilt had never left him. He often thought he deserved his solitary life and sleepless nights.

But two days later, the situation repeated itself.

The old man couldn’t take it anymore and decided to go to the police station himself.

He wrote a complaint, but the young officer on duty barely listened. As the man was about to leave, the officer simply crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash.

Seeing this, the grandfather demanded that his complaint be registered, but the officers only became irritated.

They thought they were simply dealing with an ordinary, poor old man. But they had no idea who this man really was or what would happen to them when the chief of police walked into the office.

“Go home, Grandpa. You need a doctor.”

The old man slapped his palm on the counter.

“I’m not going anywhere! I’ll wait for the chief!”

At that moment, a sharp pain shot through his chest. He staggered and clutched his heart.

The police officers, startled, sat him down on a bench.

The old man took some pills from his inside pocket, but with them fell an old photograph to the floor.

Just then, the chief of police came out of his office. He picked up the photo and froze.
In the photo was a young lieutenant.

“Who is this?” he asked softly.

“My son.”

The corridor fell silent.

The chief slowly raised his eyes to the old man. Pain flickered in his gaze.

“This is the lieutenant… the one who saved us during the war.”

He knelt slowly before the old man.

“He threw himself on a grenade to protect us. There were ten of us. We’re all alive only because of him.” The police officers remained silent. Before them stood the father of a hero, and they had treated him like this.