Out the Window

001

"That one with the blue gray gate."  I said to the man next to me. He looks at me and then at the house. He glances around the surrounding, probably thinking whether it's okay to park the truck.

I take the keys out of my pocket to unlock the gate and the front door as they start to unload the truck. "You can just put them here." I said as I open the gate wider. It took us a couple of trips to take all my stuff inside the house.

"Nice house..." The truck driver tells me while he was placing the last box on the floor. "Thanks." I reply as I hand him my payment.

"So, that's everything. Good luck." He says and leaves.

I am about to close the gate when I realized that some of my neighbors are looking at me. They're probably wondering who am I. I give them a single nod and smile. They do the same, and then I noticed this woman painting the wall next door. She looks at me with expressionless eyes. I smiled at her but she just looked away. I just shrugged it off as I enter inside.

I groaned as I look at the amount of bags and boxes that need to be unpacked. Oh, and a lot of cleaning. After a couple of minutes contemplating, I decided that I'll just do first those I'll be using for tonight and tomorrow morning.

It took me almost a year of saving before I was able to purchase this house and a couple of months of fixing before I can finally move in. My phone suddenly rings. It's Leslie.

"Hey Leslie. What's up?"

"Hi Raven. How are you?" She asks.

"I'm good. I just got in, and I'm about to unpack my stuff."

"Jeez. That sounds a lot of work."

"Tell me about it." I answer as I count the boxes in my head.

"Do you need help for that?"

"Nah, I'm good. Anyway, I'll put you on speaker. I'm just gonna move some of my stuff upstairs."

"Sure. So how's the place? Is it good?"

"Yeah, it looks great. I just realized this is big for one person I have like 2 spare rooms." I say as I place my bags in my room.

"Wow. You could have a roommate or you know, use one for storage." She says, "hey, I... uh I called to ask if you're still up for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we're supposed to meet tomorrow after lunch, right? Or do you wanna move it since you have lots to do."

"Nah, I'll see you tomorrow. This can wait." I said as I let out a chuckle.

"Great. I'll see you then." She said before ending the call.

I scan around the room to visualize the arrangement I'll probably do tomorrow. The window catches my attention. I'll put my desk beside it, I think.

"Oh wow..." I utter when I noticed that my window is facing directly the window of my next-door neighbor. Her house is huge. I can also see from here a glimpse of her backyard, a mini garden I guess on the side of the house, and then their lawn. Oh, I can see her too, she's still painting.

My stomach suddenly growls, telling me that I'm hungry. There's a diner and convenience store that we passed by earlier. I'd just grab dinner there.

...

"I'll just have a burger with a side of uh... fries. And a coke please." I tell the cashier.

After picking up my order, I find myself a vacant seat. I look around. This seems a nice neighborhood. It's quiet and much accessible to stores and transportation.