I was really trying to go for something different than what I normally write. I don't usually conjure up stories about creepy people, so this is really quite different. I'm not so confident with this one, though, because I feel like I'm rambling as I'm writing. But that's what you guys are here for, yes?
Through My Binoculars
She’s always there.
Today she is lounging peacefully on that chair that swings. Her pale, bare foot hangs off of the edge of her perch, toes stroking the wood while she propels the swing back and forth. The sun drapes its creamy curtain over her body. Her golden hair shines in the light so brilliantly that it no longer seems like hair, but something more glorious. It spills across the pillow like dozens of tiny, yellow streams. The summery bath of light paints her eyelids and smooths her eyebrows. She’s smiling pleasantly. What she is thinking of seems so nice. I ache to share those thoughts; to be cheery along with her. With her. Not the man staring at her from the window.
Her orange cat mews softly and rubs against her extended leg. Without opening her eyes, she lets her small, slender hand droop, long fingers wiggling as if to beckon the animal towards her. The cat obeys and lets its face brush against her hand. Her smile grows just a little bit and then her eyes open. They surprise me every time I see them. They are a cobalt ocean, waves frozen in place. Around them, a great sapphire wall keeps all the water from spilling out. I’ve never seen anything like them.
She’s laughing quietly now. The cat is being silly. She leans forward and picks it up, arranging it along her torso and petting it. The cat’s soft touch comforts her, and her head rolls against her shoulder. She looks as if she is asleep, though her hands keep running down the cat’s fur so gently. The smile never leaves her face. And she just keeps swinging.
The sun shines brighter. It makes her glow. Her rose-colored cheeks turn a placid peach in the radiant light. Soon, she cannot stay still any longer. She shifts, and the cat leaps off as if to do her bidding. She’s up and suddenly she’s dancing across the yard, the lush grass whispering as her feet step on it with light steps. She’s singing some joyous yet gloomy tune. Her voice is so soft and melodious when she sings, a light soprano. Her smile is wide as she skips across the lawn, brushing past blossoming bushes and trees. Her song trails off and she falls gracefully onto the grass, her chest heaving delicately. She giggles breathlessly as the cat bounds over to pounce on her. Before it can reach her, she’s up again, running away, her hair billowing gently behind her and grinning tranquilly. She’s coming towards me. It almost seems as if she really is coming for me. But she’s looking up at the cloudless sky as she sprints across her yard. The cat catches up, and she tumbles to the floor, giggling lightly. She pulls herself into a cross-legged position and looks up at the sky again. I catch myself wondering what she sees there. Does she see God up there, who constantly blesses her with all she has and gives me nothing? Or does she see her dreams there? Everything she’s always wanted but never had?
But she has everything.
And I can’t have the one thing I want.
Her grin fades away and is replaced with her serene semi-smile. Her face is solemn as she looks up at the blue canopy overhead. Her eyes flutter sleepily, and close. I don’t want them to close. I pray for them to open. There’s almost nothing I want more than to see those eyes forever.
And they do. They are fixed right on me. Though I was too far away to see my reflection in her eyes, I could picture it; the boyish man with the binoculars, staring at the beauty next door.
Her semi-smile is gone now. Her face is full of horror as she realizes what I am. What I’ve been doing.
And in just that moment, the world crashes and burns before my eyes.
)
