Evan Colley G-YOU MAGAZINE// FEBRUARY 2022// 22
‘ He caught a chill with the wind and he shivered. The man in the window did the same.’
wodniW ehT
The night was getting colder and move d f as te r th an h e b el ie ve d it co uld. They checked th eir watch e s, bo th realising th e y h ad b e e n th e re fo r ove r f if teen minute s. He s tared intently, again. He r aise d h is le f t ar m up slo wl y, watching his par tner as h e did th e same. His ar m was to o le ng thy. It b o we d and bent like the limbs of an old willow tre e. It was no t h is. His ar m s we re a norm al leng th for h is height. In real life, th e y we re no t to o lo ng, no r to o shor t. The wind blew harder and th e be ads o f ge ntle dr iz z le b e gan to th icken. He looked again to the window and th e y o nce again c augh t e ach o th e r ’s eye. It was time to go. Enough, enough . He wal ke d away to h is le f t and h is par tner followed, until the window h ad b e e n p asse d and repl ace d b y a b r ick wall. Finally. He felt relieved, glad to b e r id o f h is unsigh tl y co unte r p ar t, his contor ted ref lection, h is look and hi s h e av y ga z e wh ich se e m e d to p ie rce i ntensely through to th e dep ths of h im. He wal ke d o n p as t th e church and down through the th oroughfare, his scrapp y b o o t h e el s cl ack ing th e co bble s as he rushed along. He was of f away f ro m th e p ar ade no w, wh ich , to h is re l ief, m eant that th ere was le ss glass to be sp o tte d. Eve n with o ut th e p re se nce of the large pane s of the shopf ronts f rom wh ich h e h ad jus t e sc ap e d, h e s til l kep t his eye s to the ground to save spo tt ing h im again in th e windo ws o f th e house s. He had to tear h is h ead away f ro m th e side s o f th e s tre e ts, fo r h e could no t s tomach seeing him again, yet s til l th e re was an inexpl ic able dr aw. He couldn’t, he couldn’t, but h ow he wish e d to! Ho w h e wish e d to anal y se ever y limb, crease, cuf f and crevice! How h e wish e d to k no w, to k no w, tr ul y ! His mind rushed with th e thought of k no wing h im , h is p ar tne r, h im , th e man in the window, wh o seemed so alike ye t so p ro fo undl y imp e r so nal and i nhuman in his dif ference. His eye s rol le d and tur ne d, f ixing th e m sel ve s on any thing around him that moved, lo ok ing fo r h im , to se e if h e h ad followed. He had no t. He continued quick l y. He h ad to ge t o ut o f th e r ain.
The Window
T
he face he saw was no t his. It was s m o o th and g re ye d, h is h air was to o s traight, his jaw was too large, too long, and h is te e th se e m e d to nar ro w toward the m iddle; h is c anine s were sh o r t and th ick wh e re h is inciso r s we re shor t, shar p and th in. He jolted to a s top as h e saw h im sel f, o r, r ath e r, no t him self, in the darkened window of the p o s t o f f ice. He wo nde re d why so m e one would be in there at this time of night. It was ne arl y ele ve n o’clo ck in th e evening. They mus t h ave been closed fo r so m e tim e no w. Pe rh ap s th e y we re keep ing the book s, and h ad los t track o f tim e, o r h ad f al le n asle ep wh ile tak ing s tock. This seemed unreasonable. Eve n if th e y we re tak ing s to ck, o r check ing the book s, why would they be do ing it in th e dark? Unle ss th e y had lef t the ligh t on, and th e bulb had go ne. No, no, it m ade no se nse, no sense at all. He began to feel uneasy. He s tepp e d up clo se r to th e bl acke ne d window, and beh ind it h e saw the shelve s f il le d with b ir th day c ards, p ack ing tape, cello tap e, pens, pencils, envelope s and re am s o f l ine d and pl ain p ap e r, printing pap er, all sor ts; and th en, with o ut p ay ing f ul l atte ntio n, h e saw th e m an who s tar tled h im in th e f ir s t pl ace. He s tepp e d b ackward, and th e man d id too, in per fect synch ronicit y. Th e re h e was, h im , no t h im , with h is dis tor ted jaw and h is age, h is olden grey h air and h is nar ro w te e th and h is amplif ied jaw, h is lengthy limbs all mak ing h im , and m ir ro r ing h is sl igh te s t movem ent to the f ine s t margin. He c augh t a ch il l with th e wind and h e sh iv ered . The m an in the window did th e sam e. He was l ate, del aye d. Was h e? The m an m oved up toward th e window a nd lo oke d into th e e ye s o f wh ate ve r i t was that he was seeing in th e ref lection. It was no t h is f ace, h is l imb s, h im . It could no t be. He was so used to seeing h im sel f, in h is yo uth , h is dark ne ss, his colour, his clo the s. He k new that h e was no t h andso m e, b ut al so no t ugl y, nor f rightening, no t at all like wh at h e was se e ing in th e windo w, wh ate ve r i t was that was copying his actions as h e s to o d and watch e d wh ate ve r it was do as he did, wh en h e did, h ow and wh ile h e did it.
