THE LIFE OF A WINDOW

 

I like being a window, thank you for asking. It is important being the eye of the house, though that might make me seem to be a bit pretentious, I just let the light in or out, and that’s it. No one notices me, even birds smash into me not seeing I’m here, so I feel very unloved and uncared for. They do the best they can. They look after my cleanliness and occasionally my putty and even less occasionally the paint on my frame, but that is just so that I can be good at letting light through for them.

 

The weather can be quite painful to me, especially when it is cold. They stoke up the heat in the room and I have a hot side on the inside and on the outside I have a cold side and the stress it sets up is chronically painful. Occasionally when the outside temperature warms and I am still cold, I’m covered in condensation. It doesn’t last long but does stop them seeing out till it clears.

 

I am in the north facing wall of the house, but I have window friends, yes we do know about each other but I am not saying how, though we all have a window cleaner friend who talks a lot. Some of my friends are in the south facing wall and they experience the direct sunlight which can be very very hot.

 

What I like doing is shortening time. When father comes home from work, the family’s children want to be the first to see him, and they wait, looking through me. I like that very much, even though it does mess me up with lots of handprints, nose prints and tongue licks, but the excitement when they realise that they can see Dad walking up the road is so worth it.

 

I also find that I lengthen time, or drag it out. Goodbyes seem to take longer and are more tearful when seen through me. It is worst when they stop waving and just watch their friends receding as they walk away. I would like to be able to mist over and make it easier for them, but I can’t, and it is not really my place to do so.

 

I shouldn’t really mention this, but I can see what goes on inside the room as well as the view of the road outside and the sky above. Some might find this difficult, even embarrassing, but I mostly see them only reading or being creative with painting or writing. I rather guess that you might be relieved to realise that drawing the curtains in the evening blocks my view completely. I do hear some strange noises but being a window I don’t always understand what I hear or what I see, mostly I just let it all pass through me without thought. And I have the most pride in being a useful, needed part of the family’s home, that is barely noticed.

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John A C Beattie June 2025