The window had probably never been designed for looking out. Which, in hindsight, felt thematically appropriate. It wasn't large enough to frame a skyline. Only fragments, and from that strip of visibility, apartment buildings stood close enough to remind me that cities rarely solve problems. They simply build around them.
The glow of a bathroom mirror. Laundry moving in the morning breeze. Someone smoking in a dressing gown with the posture of a man already rehearsing today's argument. There’s something unsettling about watching strangers without enough context.
Everything looks ordinary from far enough away. Windows encourage that sort of optimism. They assume the part you can't see behaves itself.
The story continues on May 03.
The Geometry of Choice: Book I of The Equilibrium Strain.
©️ 2026 Bob Roland. All rights reserved.