From The Window

From The Window

One Beautiful Autumn Evening, I saw that girl by the window, again.

Light was glowing softly from behind her. I thought she looked very pretty.

There were rumors about her. Bad rumors. My nanna told me she is a gold digger. But someone with her size surely can't be able to dig deep into the ground. Nanna told me it was just an expression. That people like her sell their souls to the devil for a few pounds of gold. That they are nothing but whores. I asked her what is a whore, but she shied away from answering me. And so I kept quiet. Nanna sometimes does that, refusing to ask some questions I posed. But I never pressed on.

Every morning I walk past that big house on the way to school. Usually, it will be empty. But I did that still because I get to see her from that window. She always looked at the sky, and I thought sometimes she is dreaming. She never looked below, so I took the chance to glimpse at her whenever I can. Yes, she is indeed very pretty. Sometimes, she made me wish I can draw well, so that I can capture her face looking so quietly up the sky... I thought there was no one as beautiful as her.

Never mind what a whore is. I was pretty sure nanna refused to answer me because it was a bad word. But the girl looked nothing like that, or anything bad for that matter. There was something about her that made my eyes melt everytime I looked at her.

The man came by that window, and gently touched her shoulder. She smiled for the first time, and my heart almost skipped a beat. Nanna said the man was an old fool, an old, lecherous fox. I did not understand. She used to like Mr. Castle. Now all she did was speak badly of him. I don't even try to ask her what was lecherous. Mr. Castle gave me sweets everytime I met him, and we promised to keep it a secret from nanna. I thought he was a very kind man. He reminds me of Grandpapa, with the smell of tobacco and peppermint. He was almost 60 years old, nanna said. But sometimes he hardly looks like it at all, because whenever his eyes smile, they remind me of Charlie, my best friend, who always got us into trouble.

Mr. Castle saw me from the streets and waved. The girl waved too, and it made me feel very light at feet. Then they left the window. I thought Mr. Castle and his new bride were perfect for each other.

That Beautiful autumn evening, I saw that girl by the window, for the last time.

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My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy,
They have no borders, no boundaries.
They echo and they swell
From Tolstoy to Tinker Bell.
Down from Berkeley to Carmel.
Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill.

- Simon And Garfunkel (Cloudy)