Just across the way

I have an imaginary friend. Hmmm. I should probably clarify what I mean by that because otherwise, it sounds a bit bizarre.

It's not that she's imaginary; she's quite real. I have known her since I moved to Rome. I say hello and good night to her almost every day while I am in Rome. It's just that she just doesn't know that I exist. Yeah, that still sounds bizarre. Let me clarify further....

At the end of the my hall is a window. This window looks out over and across the back garden to nearby apartments. In the apartment building directly across from me I see a woman almost every day in the same place in her apartment between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm. Every day. Our "friendship" began slowly. I would glance out the window as I was leaving the building or on my way to the bathroom and see her sitting on her couch in the living room facing the window. After several months of catching glances of this woman I began to wonder about her. Who is she? What's her story? Does she work? Is she married? Why in the world is she always in the same spot in her apartment?!


So, I have taken to making up stories about her. I will forever wonder who she is, but for now..she's the woman who lives across the way and there's nothing to stop me from imagining all sorts of things...think Audrey Hepburn in "Wait Until Dark"...just sayin'.