The Woman in the Window

The weather is stormy, and Anna remembers dropping a glass of red wine on her patio once. She describes the spill as “dark and bloody, crawling toward my feet” (34). Though Anna longs to feel rain and wind on her skin, she is adamant that she never wants to feel snow ever again. Anna remembers the night she first met Ed at a screening of a film noir classic. She recalls the many classic films they watched together and lists her favorites by Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski. Anna checks the Agora for messages and watches her neighbors go about their days.

Late in the afternoon, Anna drops her glass of red wine when the doorbell rings and startles her: the teenager from number 207 is delivering a gift from his mother. Anna reluctantly invites him inside, and they converse politely as she opens the box to reveal a lavender-scented candle. The boy’s name is Ethan; both Anna and Anna’s cat, Punch, take a liking to him. Anna falls back into a role that feels comforting and familiar, ingratiating herself to Ethan as if he is one of her patients. Anna explains that she is separated from her husband and that their eight-year-old daughter lives with him; Ethan explains that he is homeschooled and that, back home in Boston, he used to teach developmentally disabled children how to swim.