[ WP ] A woman looks out of her window every day and sees people enjoying themselves . One day , she decides to go outside .

She had always watched the people from her big bay window. She enjoyed sitting on the bench, kneels pulled up to her chest and her nose in a book. She saw people she did n't know smile and wave at each other, kids run by laughing and general smiles all around. The sun was nearly always shining and she loved watching the seasons change slowly. For as long as she could remember, her mother had warned her about going outside. It was far too dangerous a place for the likes of young, meek Millicent. So day in and day out, Millicent stayed indoors. Doctors came to see *her* and tutors taught school lessons in the house. 
 
 Mother and Father had left for the day to visit her sick Aunt Gwedolyn so Mary curled up on the window bench a few books at her feet to pass the time. As the day continued on, Millicent saw people walking, jogging, smiling, playing, laughing, waving; all the things they had done on a daily basis, but something about today called to her. It wanted her to come out of the house and step into the warm sun. She tried to ignore it and at first it was easy, like every other day. But today was different. It touched her skin, crawled in her brain and whispered in her ears. She realized she was looking out the window more than she was reading today. Finally she decided to cave in. 
 
 She stood looking at the door knob for a long time, her mother's words of warning circling her head.'You are n't like other children','Outdoors is n't at all like in your books', and her most favourite:'The doctors say the air outside will kill you'. She knew the last one was mostly meant to scare her as her mother used it as a last resort. Her hand quickly grabbed the handle of the door and turned it until it swung open towards her. It was light outside, but not sunny at all. Millicent assumed that some rain clouds had rolled in as she stood looking at the door. 
 
 Millicent took a couple of steps forward, closed her eyes and took the biggest inhale of air that she had ever dared to before. She felt her lungs fill, fill, fill until she thought she heard her ribs pop. As she exhaled, she opened her eyes and realised the air had n't killer her! Millicent smiled broadly and skipped down her front steps to the sidewalk below. A person was walking past her so Millicent smiled and waved. 
 
 `` Hello! Good day!'' Millicent was eagerly awaiting a response. 
 
 `` Hi.'' The person blandly stated. No wave, no smile and not even any eye contact. Millicent thought that maybe the person was just not having a very good day. She spotted another person on a bicycle. 
 
 `` Hello, sir! Lovely day!'' 
 
 `` Fuck off!'' Millicent was taken aback. What was wrong with that person? 
 
 `` Uh... hello.'' Millicent gave the next person a meek smile and a tiny wave. The woman smiled nicely and waved back, continuing her power walk right on past Millicent. `` Well that was better. Oh hello!'' The man gave her a dirty look and kept moving. Millicent was confused, but decided to try her luck across the street where the park was. Maybe someone more her age would react differently. When she reached the small park she realised it was n't really like how it looked from her window. All the swings were broken, the metal slide was rusted brown, monkey bars were missing and the wood was all carved up with initials and dirty words. 
 
 `` Hey. You!'' 
 
 `` Hello!'' Millicent waved and smiled again. Finally! `` My name is Millicent, what are yours?'' She watched as the group approached her. 
 
 `` Millicent? What kind of fucked up name is that?'' The kids laughed at her. 
 
 `` You got any money on you, bitch?'' 
 
 `` Excuse me?'' Millicent was shocked by the language this guy was using. 
 
 `` I said, you got any money, bitch!'' He grabbed at her sweater and puller her close to him as he pawed at her pockets. Millicent tried to struggle away from him but the whole group descended upon her and started hitting and grabbing at her clothes. She fell to the ground in a ball and crying. After every one of her pockets had been searched, the group left her alone in the dirt, disappearing somewhere in the park. 
 
 Crying, bloody and beaten, Millicent rose from the ground and promptly returned home, not bothering to make any further contact with the people. She slammed her front door behind her and collapsed on her window bench, sobbing into the pillows. She looked up, tears smearing her vision, and saw the people though the window. They were smiling and waving, laughing and playing just as they always were. And now the sun was out again! Shocked and hateful that these were not the people she had met, Millicent flew to her door and flung it open. 
 
 The day was dark and dreary. Water drizzled down slowly from the clouds above and there was nary a person to be seen. She ran to the window, then back to the door and finally back tot he window again. Why was it so different? What was going on? Tears welled up in her eyes again. Millicent closed her front door and plopped down on her window seat again. Something she had never noticed before near the bottom corner of the window caught her attention. It was a little strip of plastic that ran in a straight line and had started to curl in one corner. Millicent picked and picked at the plastic until she was able to peel away the plastic layer. 
 
 Beneath were words that Millicent read aloud to herself; `` Caution: Objects Seen Through Window May Not Be As They Are.''
