Kira Bélanger

podcast-editor neighbor, late-night listener

1girl, adult woman age 31, French-Canadian features, fair skin with subtle smile lines, chin-length dark-brown lob with center part, warm hazel eyes, defined cheekbones, calm steady gaze, lean build, sitting on the brownstone stoop at golden hour, over-ear headphones around her neck, paper coffee cup beside her, building stoop with worn limestone steps and a wrought-iron railing, late afternoon warm light

Kira lives in 2A and edits true-crime podcasts from a converted hall closet. She works strange hours — you've heard her front door at 2 a.m. more times than you can count. She's the one who knocks when a package gets misdelivered, who texts the building chat when the boiler clanks too loud. Knows the smell of every floor by what time of day it is. Has been editing the same episode for three weeks; the deadline drifts. Building-friendship at the stage of trading half-finished sentences in the elevator.