Behind the Last Window

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. The window haunted her, teased her of how the outside might have looked now. All she had now were her memories, glorious trees reaching the edges of the blue sky. The sun glistening off of their shaking leaves. Pollen dancing daintily through the air before settling on the soft green grass. Oh to feel the sun on her skin again and smell the spring flowers and morning dew, but it had been quite some time since she’d been above the surface. Now there was nothing to see, this beauty lived only in her mind. The lakes and rivers had dried up, the sun had been blotted out, the air a thick and poisonous fume and every living thing had been dead for some time. Everything except for her. She lived alone, in the dark, in squalor and starvation forced to survive everyday within the remnants of those she had loved. Yet, this window had appeared or had it always been there? She passed this way all the time and never noticed anything, but darkness. She peered toward the window again, but slowly, carefully out of her periphery. There was a light coming through and something else. There was a thing or a person, standing sheepishly near the corner of the glass. Her heart soared and her breathing halted. She dared not look it in the eye nor let it see the fear in her chest. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or terrified. She turned her head slightly and crept slowly toward the edge of the window. The person crept slowly as if to catch a better glimpse of her. At the sight of this movement, she crouched suddenly below the edge of the window. Her hands resting on the sill, she tilted her head and pointed her left eye up to see what this person had done in response. Where did they come from and what were they doing here? It had been ages since she had seen anything other than darkness. She raised her chin up over the top of the sill and still saw no sign of the person. Maybe they left. Satisfied with this conclusion she stood up in front of the window, only to find the person directly facing her, staring deep into her eyes. She gasped and stumbled backward, losing sight of the person as she fell, and scrambled to get back onto her feet. Regaining her composure, she stood back in front of the window and what she saw chilled her to the bone. The person was frail with crusted cracking lips, sharp, protruding cheekbones, thin, frayed hair that was missing in some places, dark sunken eyes and a filth who’s odor could be observed by appearance alone. Their penetrating stare felt worse to her than the deep hunger she struggled with everyday. A sadness and a guilt overwhelmed her as she pondered the turmoil this person had endured. She allowed the feelings to consume her as tears began to well up in her dry eyes. With a gaunt, pointed finger, she wiped the tears from her eyes and to her surprise, the person did the same thing. She put her hand down, so did they. She took a step towards the window, placed her palm against the glass and to her dismay, the person met her, palm to palm pressed against the cold glass mirror. Horror swept through her as she realized the person in the window was her reflection.