Window Beyond Window Novels & Stories

"Colton, love is like this bracelet. Once it's shattered, it stays that way. No fix or make-up can erase the scars left behind." She let out a derisive laugh. "Mr. Jones, I'd like you to leave my store. It's no place for someone of your stature." The bracelet landed in his hand, heavy as lead, crushing the breath out of Colton. Pain flickered across his face, "If I can't make up for the past, then I'll just have to win you over again. Forget the past. Let's just think about what's ahead, okay?" Whitney's laughter was tinged with fury. "Colton, could you just not?"

Each question birthed a storm of frustration and confusion, leaving her entangled in a relentless cycle of uncertainty, with no resolution shimmering in the distance. Just as despair began to weave its way into her heart, a faint rustling sound outside her window pulled her back from the brink. Aria pivoted sharply, her breath catching in her throat as she caught sight of Luna perched delicately on the windowsill. The old wolf’s wise, ancient eyes held a depth of knowledge, reflecting eons of wisdom that Aria could barely begin to comprehend. In Luna's gaze, she felt both a grounding force and a profound mystery, piquing her curiosity further.

The sun was shinning brightly, it was almost blinding. Its rays penetrated the window of the room where Ben was relaxing on the divan, lost in her own world different thoughts wandered through her mind some of which were of her ex-boyfriend, Daniel. "Bad dude" she muttered at the thoughts of him, she let out a small smile. He really explored her as much as she tried to loathe him now she couldn't he was a player but was also good in his nasty ways.

It’s like being back in her room, with her super-soft bed and dimly lit lamp. With a sigh, she stared at the landscape featured by the round window opposite her. There was no doubt of Zorphe’s beauty, its corners punctuated by an enchanted torch which captured any light it could detect. Far from that, the colorful trees, the horizon, even if it’s darkened by the heavens, were perfectly synchronizing to the details of each patented barrier—a thin sparkling line that surrounded its premise, separating it from the rest of Pasithea’s Empires.

The loud sound of breaking glass filled the air, and Tania felt like she was floating as she fell backward. As she fell, she covered her belly without thinking, but when she hit the bushes, her back hurt so bad, and something warm trickled down her legs. Through blurry eyes, she saw Samuel by the window, holding onto Lucy's hand, looking all worried and sorry. However, there she was, lying in the cold bushes, without even a glance from him. Before everything went dark, Tania had just one thought: the baby was gone. The baby she had not even told Samuel about was gone.

At that moment, though, he was exhausted. The contents in the thumb drive made him realize that everything felt like it was crushing down. His beautiful childhood sweetheart, Josie Law, was not the person she seemed to be. His wife, whom he thought would wait for him forever, had left him just like that. She even left him things that were enough to destroy him once and for all. There was one last file he had yet to open. Inside were just four words. [Don't look for me.] Xander knew what she meant. If he went looking for her, she would expose those lethal materials to the world.

My paychecks—thin slips of paper earned by scrubbing office floors in the morning and standing behind a register in the evening—vanished as soon as I got them; rent, food, and bus fares. There is always a subtle sense of insufficient resources. Sometimes, late at night, when my siblings were asleep, I’d sit at the kitchen table, staring at the cracked ceiling. My chest would tighten, haunted by a single thought that echoed repeatedly until it hollowed me out: I am failing them. Tonight, as I walked through the storm, I paused in front of a boutique window. The glass was so clean it almost seemed to disappear, revealing a different world.

"Shawn, happy New Year! No matter how far you go, you'll always be the closest person to me." It was Archie Crosby, the underprivileged young man I had sponsored for four years. I had brought him out of the remote mountains and got him into Sienna's company. My finger hovered over the reply box. Before I could respond, I received a notification about a new post on social media. I tapped on it without thinking. The video was only five seconds long. Sienna, who was supposed to be stuck at the office for overtime, was standing on the beach. The wind was howling, and the sparkler in her hand lit up her gentle profile.

I went to take a shower after dinner. It was then that I suddenly saw a weird palm print on the glass window. Someone must have left that palm print behind with their soapy hand while taking a shower. The print was quite faint and white against the shiny glass on the window. It was obviously a woman's handprint, and it wasn't mine. My hand was a little bigger than this. So I couldn't have been the one who put it there. It couldn't have been my daughter, Bella Quinton, either. She had tiny hands and wasn't even tall enough to reach that spot yet. Also, it definitely did not belong to my husband, Rory Quinton.

~DAHLIA~ Silence fills the room. I exhale slowly again before turning my attention towards the large window at the far left end of the wall facing my bed. Curious, I walk away from the mirror towards the window. When I reach it, the view I meet steals my breath away. The lands I am seeing may be barren, but they stretch out so vast and endlessly as though they have no ends. The horizon swallows itself, a mirage of heat distorting the edges where the earth meets the sky.