The window

Chapter 2

When Doris was in grade 3, she became paralyzed from the waist down after being knocked down by a car in a hit-and-run accident. What made it worst was that the person who had knocked Doris down was Mr Gopal, Edward’s father. The doctor confirmed with the Colleens that unless a miracle happened, it was impossible for Doris to regain her strength to walk. Mr Gopal had denied being involved with the accident, and claimed that he was innocent. But with all the evidence pointing against him and his number plate taken down by a passer-by who had witnessed the accident, he had no choice but to plead guilty. He had been drinking when he was driving. He had also been speeding when he drove. Before he knew it, he heard a loud ‘bang’. Being in an unclear state of mind at that time, his first instinct was to run away. Least did he expect that the person he had knocked down was his neighbour’s daughter. Had he known, he would have immediately sent her to the hospital. Mr Gopal was charged with drink-driving and was imprisoned for 1 year and fined $5000. He also needed to compensate the Colleens and was fired from his job. His family had lost their sole breadwinner and to keep the roof above their head, Mrs Gopal had to juggle 2 jobs. Despite their anger with Mr Gopal for not being responsible with his actions which could have led to the death of their gem, they offered to pay for their school fees to ease the burden of Mrs Gopal. Instead of being thankful to them, Mrs Gopal rejected their offer spitefully and told the Colleens that it was their entire fault that her family was in this state and told Mr and Mrs Colleen not to shed crocodile tears. She would rather burn the money than to use it. This angered Mr and Mrs Colleen and they decided to break all connections with the Gopals. From that day onwards, they did not allow Doris out of the house and had her home tutored. They did not want her to communicate with the any of the Gopals.

For the past 5 years, Doris had been kept in the house. But Doris had a secret of her own. She had been secretly observing her neighbours especially Edward. She knew their every move and what they were like through observing. Everyday she would wake up earlier than anyone in the house and wheel herself to the kitchen and stare out of the window that was near the Gopal’s garden to see Edward do his morning chores before he went to school and later return to bed. At first Edward did not feel anything, but after awhile, he realized that Doris had been watching him. He decided to pretend that he did not know anything. One day, Edward did not turn up for his morning chores. This left Doris disappointed. As she was about to wheel herself back to her bedroom, something flew in from the window and landed on her lap. It was a bookmark with a pressed flower on it. She turned back to see Edward’s grinning face. She broke into a smile too.

This became Edward’s and Doris’s daily routine. Though they rarely spoke to each other, with an assuring smile to each other, they knew that it would keep them going for the day. They would pass messages to each other and occasionally, Edward would tell Doris a joke. Not long later, Edward’s chores were in the afternoon. During her tea breaks, she would find excuses to make her way down to the kitchen to take a look at Edward. Only the cook, Mrs Harrison, knew what Doris was doing and she would make snacks for both Doris and Edward to munch on during their secret meetings. During Doris’s 5^th year of confinement in the house, Doris’s frequent visits to the kitchen became suspicious to her mother. Ers Aolleen decided to go into the kitchen to see what Doris had been up to. Edward was feeling very playful on the same day that Mrs Colleen decided take a look in the kitchen. Not knowing that Mrs Colleen was also in the kitchen, he mischievously took the water hose to spray Doris. Thinking that her daughter was in danger, she pulled away her daughter’s wheelchair and was sprayed instead. Both Doris and Edward were shocked. The angry Mrs Colleen immediately shut the windows and pulled the wheelchair out of the kitchen. She then reprimanded Doris for seeing one of the Gopal without her knowing. She shouted for Mrs Harrison and scolded her for not stopping Doris from seeing Edward. She then forbade Doris from entering the kitchen at all and made sure the windows were shut all the time. Doris was devastated. The window was her only way of communication with Edward.

There's still more to Chapter 2, but, i cut it into half so it doesn't seem that long...