The People Watcher

Submitted into Contest #105 in response to: Write your story from the perspective of a side character.... view prompt

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Drama Romance Happy

I never imagined while growing up that people watching would become a daily routine for me. Almost all of my family tell me I’m weird and that I need to get real hobbies, everyone except for my younger cousins, which are too young to actually have their own opinion. I do other things obviously, like my job, I’m a security guard at the local hospital, I work the night shifts. When I’m not there I take my dog Luna to the dog park, or I read. And of course, I people watch. I get how creepy It sounds, but I don’t stalk anyone, I just watch them while they’re out in public. It’s always intrigued me, to be able to watch someone and learn so much on who they are, without speaking a single word with them. To see their body language to different people, to guess the kind of job they have, and if they hate or love life. Though I had never been really invested in anyone, that was until I saw them. A boy and a girl had just moved into the apartment across the street from mine. The girl had this dirty blonde pixie haircut and the boy a black curly afro, their skin was covered with tattoos of many small words and objects I could not make out. They looked to be in their 20s. Their furniture was bright and old, kind of the sort you would see in some house in the 70s. They had many paintings, and it took hours to unload all of their things. I was instantly attached the second I saw them, their energy was insanely the same, and they looked like they lived such extravagant lives. So, I continued to watch them, their life became my new routine. I became known to their routine and I followed it. Every day they woke up at 5am and went for runs around the block, they would return home at around 5:45am. They would leave at 7am for the day, the girl would arrive home at 2:30pm while the boy would come back at 4pm. But in between the hours of the day that they were home, I would watch them, watch them slowly fall more in love with each other, it was beautiful. They were unlike anyone I had ever seen. They would go on walks at night to watch the stars, they danced both slowly and very crazily to music all the time, they were constantly smiling and laughing. They would watch so many movies together and talk for so many hours. I could never make out what they were saying, but they both talked with so much ease and passion, it was something I had never encountered with anyone. Watching them every day made me realise of just how much I don’t do with my life, they did it all and more and well, I was just jealous of them I suppose. Every weekend since they moved in, they would leave the Friday afternoon and return the Sunday night, my mind could only wander to all kinds of ideas on where and what they were doing. Possibly travelling, or running a marathon, or maybe they had a second apartment near the beach or something. Though wherever they went, they would return again, and do the week all over again, with even more bliss and wonder. I remember this one night I had just finished watching an episode of The Office, and I went to look out my window, I saw them through their window fighting, intensely. It had been months and I’d never seen them fight like this. It ended with the man slamming the front door and coming out the bottom floor to walk away into the darkness which led absolutely nowhere. For two weeks I watched the girl come in and out of the apartment, but nothing would ever happen inside. With the time he was gone I felt myself too, overcome with sadness. I felt almost empty. Their love was so pure, I hadn’t even seen that in my parents, and here it was, now broken into two pieces. After another week there was finally movement inside. It was on a Sunday after I got back from taking Luna for a walk. The girl opened the curtains and started looking out the window like I do. She would do this for hours and I wondered if our eyes would ever meet, if out worlds would collide even for a split second. Though they never did. Each day started and ended the same and I became consumed on what happened within the walls. The once colourful and alive apartment now seemed dull and empty, and I too found myself now doing much less than before as I became addicted to the thought of the boy coming back at last. Though he never showed. Months went by and it began to snow outside, creating a cold and peaceful serenity. The girl had changed now. She bought a dog home one night that she would dance and play with most nights. She would cook herself dinner and even started going on morning walks again. As the snow became heavier, a certain look I hadn’t seen in her started to uprise again. She started to look at the world how she used to again, with such ease and peace, like she had everything sorted out and nothing would stop her. I admired her for it. I realised she had spent many months working on herself and her own happiness, while I had invested so much of my time in watching this stranger grow, and it was remarkable. More weeks flew by and I saw her back to her old self, it was honestly empowering. Each morning before she left her house, she would touch the snow and breathe in some cold air, then she would go on with her day, I like to believe she found herself. That same day I went to take Luna for a walk when on my way home I saw her walking down the path on her way home. My mind flooded with millions of thoughts and memories of stuff I knew about her. I planned to pick up the pace and walk past her and into my apartment when I heard a voice from her direction. It was her.

“My gosh your dog is gorgeous.” She asked in excitement as she crouched down to pet Luna. 

I stopped as my mind was now blank, as if the snow around me could freeze me with its coldness. The girl looked up at me with such an innocent and gentle face.

“Yes, her name is Luna.” My heart pounding, and for some reason my hands were sweating, in the middle of Winter. I was sure I had gone mad.

“Well Luna is just the cutest.” She said while now standing up and still petting her. “I recently got a dog, he’s been my best friend for a while now.”

“I completely understand, I’ve had Luna for years and I prefer her over many people.”

She looked at me with a funny face, almost as if she did not agree, or she did, I could not tell. Being up this close was very strange, I don’t normally talk with the people I observe, or I guess for this girl, admire would now be the best word to describe it. She had these light brown eyes, almost honey shaded. Her hair had grown out from the first day she arrived, and her tattoos were hidden under many layers of clothing.

“I feel we would get along. I’m Blaze.” She held out her hand.

“Justin.” I shook her hand and smiled. She definitely suited the name Blaze.

We walked together the rest of the way home and I had learnt so much about Blaze in such a short time. Once we got to her apartment, she wished to see me again and I agreed as I walked to the front door of my apartment complex and waved to her as she entered hers. That night as I got ready for another night shift at the hospital, I looked out the window to see Blaze painting by herself in her kitchen. I could hear the faint vibration of music as it came out through her window and she danced around the canvas with her dog. She was so happy. It was in this moment that I had a great epiphany. I was no longer living for me. This was no longer my life, this was hers. This was Blaze’s life. I was merely the admirer watching her live, and it was extraordinary.

August 05, 2021 14:55

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