The Window 

Written by Joseph Warren

I turn the door knob to open the room. The walls are dark voids, covered with soundproof padding.The shaggy red carpet rises like tall grass in an uncut backyard. A large brown leather recliner covering all the real estate in the jail cell sized room.The sound is sucked out of the air, and the only noise left is the one in your head your mind focusing on that window. 

This window showed me my future wife when I was twelve years old. It got the time and place right and  I met her at Astoria park in a cold crisp fall day. She was wearing a Mark Messier New York Rangers Jersey and wore sweat pants. And even then, I still think she looked beautiful. 

This room was in my parents vacation home and now I own it with my wife Alexandria. 

I’ve been obsessed with this window ever since, because I got greedy. I wanted to know more about the future.  I always tried to get Alex to join me,  but  she’d say, “Hubby can we just enjoy the now and not the future?”. She doesn’t believe I saw her when I was twelve. I think she thinks its a cute story, like I dreamed it up . But I swear it is true. 

Still, I want to know more about my I mean , our future.  

It’s strange:  every time I go in this room, I hear muffled voices. Once, I managed to  piece together a full sentence from the jigsaw  of sound in this room. It said, “Please be with me”, but I was too  entranced to care what I heard. The visions  the window showed me were never helpful, never something to make our lives better. But one thing did scare me and that is seeing Alex being unfaithful. 

I broke out of the trance and woke up like someone late for work, frantic and sweating . I ran through the house, shouting  “ALEX!  WHERE ARE YOU?!”. 

 When I reached our bedroom, all her belongings were gone. I grabbed my phone and called her, but all I heard was a disconnected tone. Then I noticed a letter on the pillow. It read:

Dear Joe, 

I don’t know what to say. At the beginning of our relationship, it felt like a hallmark movie our romance perfect, our love effortless. We were always together, like a team fighting the world all by ourselves. 

But THIS WINDOW, has been a thorn in our marriage.You said it showed us meeting for the first time, but it also showed me how greedy you are. We should be writing our own future, not relying on a window to tell us our story we call life. You need to live in the present, and not worrying about what the future brings you. 

I met someone and he gives me attention and love. Hopefully this letter will turn you in the right direction and mindset. I still care about you. 

Love, Alexandria 

Joe cries in silence. He walks towards the room but before he enters he grabs a sledgehammer out of the closet.