Frosted Windowpanes

it's that time of year when the world falls in love every song you hear seems to say merry christmas, may your new year dreams come true ~sammy cahn

frosted windowpanes - a short story told in poetry, letters, texts and morse code by supernovaswirls137

the girl in the window i see her sometimes she lives on the opposite side of the road i don't know her name she sits at her window like me staring aimlessly at the road

i see her silhouette when the ambulances drive past at night i see her watching the dog walkers on their daily jog she looks sad me and my friends make up stories for her some days she's a princess, locked up in the tower against her will other days she's a spy, keeping tabs on the neighbourhood under the guise of "schoolgirl"

i still don't know her name.

december december arrives without any of its usual vigour online school drags on me and my parents half-heartedly bake a christmas cake the tinsel droops the online advent calendar crashes i listen to "i'll be home for christmas" and blink back tears

letter a letter arrives on the doorstep it's addressed to "the girl in the window of flat 9b" i think that means me.

dear ma'am, (mum gave me this old letter format so if i'm doing this all wrong don't blame me!) i'm judy, the girl from the opposite side of the road! i've been seeing you for a while, and i wanted to talk to you so much!!! you look like you have a lot of interesting things to say! i'm probably using wayyyy too many exclamation marks, but i'm not used to writing letters so i guess the exclamation marks are staying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway i have a million questions about you: what's your name? how's your week been? are you excited for christmas? do you mind exclamation marks? i have loads more but i think that will do for now! best regards, judy ps sorry if you don't celebrate christmas! pps do you know morse code? ppps please write back! i stare at the letter in shock the girl in the window has a name? i'm not sure why i'm so surprised of course she has a name and it's a really pretty name. judy. i pause for a moment, deliberating. then i pick up my pen and write a response.

dear judy, it's amazing to hear from you! i'm rose, and i've also been seeing you for a while. in answer to your other questions, my week's been pretty awful really great, thanks for asking! i'm not very excited for christmas- we usually go back home to the us and it's tearing me apart that we can't but this year we're obviously staying here, which should mean more time with my parents. i don't mind exclamation marks at all, in fact, i use them a lot myself! i don't know morse code but i can learn it if you want. i have a couple of questions for you, too, if you don't mind answering them: how old are you? do you go to marston high like me? are you secretly a spy or a princess? do you like to read? ~rose waiting judy hasn't replied. it's only been a few hours since i sent it so i'm not sure why i'm so on edge. i load up my computer while i'm waiting. it's been a while since bernadette stopped replying to my emails but i check my email as a matter of habit.

nothing.

i wonder distantly if her computer's crashed. i miss her so much. we used to be really close but that was before i moved

she promised to write every day i guess she lied.

hihihihihi, you actually replied! i don't believe it! i've been wanting to know about you foreverrrrrr (or at least since lockdown!) glad to hear your week's been good, mine's been terrible! my best friend broke up with her boyfriend and she WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT IT!!!! urghhhhhhh boys you come from the states? same!!! i bet you must miss it- i'm from vermont, in middlebury (have you heard of it?) and i'm so totally depressed that i can't go back till next year. okay cool- i thought maybe we could communicate like that! you know, since our windows are so close! i'm 14, i go to brooklyn high though i might transfer to marston in the spring, and i love to read!!!!!!! what are your favorite books? judy xx ps thanks for replying pps letters are way too slow, do you have a phone number or smth? beginnings with trembling hands i reply that i'm from boston that i will learn morse code and that my favorite book is 'the black flamingo'

i have to check my phone number twice before i write it even though i know i know it off by heart ten numbers have never been harder to write

she sends me a message a few hours later and i almost forget how to breath when i realize her icon is the lesbian flag.
 * hey!
 * it's judy btw
 * from over the road
 * though u probably guessed that
 * hey!
 * hru?
 * alright- hbu?
 * friend is stiiiill ranting
 * (about her boyfriend)
 * otherwise okay

she sends me a cheat sheet for morse code i download it and start memorising it it's not too hard, actually in a few hours i've learnt all the letters i spell my name with bits of fallen tinsel dot dash dot dash dash dash dot dot dot dot

morse code is logical and i like that my phone buzzes

i grin.
 * ooh you're good!
 * do u have a flashlight?
 * look out your window @ 10
 * look out your window @ 10
 * look out your window @ 10
 * look out your window @ 10
 * look out your window @ 10

shh it's two minutes to ten and i'm crouched at the window i'm gripping my flashlight as though my life depends on it it's cold

right on time, a series of flashes come out of judy's window dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot shh. i make an indignant face. of course! a pause from her side, and then: isn't this exciting? it's getting very cold and it's really dark but i have to agree. ''yes. it's like a scene out of 'rules' only real'' she waits for me to finish, and then flashes quickly ''you've read 'rules'? by cynthia lord?'' i have to take a few deep breaths in order to keep myself from rushing the dashes ''yes! i can't believe you know it!''

our conversation continues until almost half past eleven we make promises to talk again tomorrow my phone buzzes with a gif of a kitten with a flashlight i watch it several times before i realize it's spelling out 'goodnight' i respond with a penguin chick gif saying 'see you in the morning' she types two heart emojis, then goes offline i truly forget how to breathe.

phone call it's fifteen minutes past eleven the next day i'm in the middle of a computing lesson (no zoom meeting) when my phone rings it's judy i pick up immediately, my fingers fumbling as i type my password "hi?" i manage to say my voice sounds hoarse

"i know we're going to talk at ten but that was too long to wait i'm bored out of my mind and you're literally the most interesting person i've ever met" it's the first time i've ever heard judy speak her accent is as strong as mine but her voice sounds like singing.

"that's... really nice of you to say," i say. hang computing. "just the truth" i can sense her shrug through the phone. "so, watcha doing?" it takes me a moment to realize it's a question. "um. computing." "anything interesting?" "just python." "just python???" she asks indignantly. "i've always wanted to learn python!"

i have an idea. it's probably crazy. no, it's totally crazy. i'm about to get laughed out of the country. but at the same time...

"doyouhavezoom?" i ask, the words coming out of my mouth as a chaotic jumble. "yeah, why do you ask?" "i just wondered... if we zoom and i screen share and you could learn some pyhton..." her voice tailed off as she waited for judy to laugh it off. "it's probably a stupid idea." "what are you TALKING about?? it's a BRILLIANT idea! alright, i'm sending you a zoom link right now. i'm judymoody215@gmail.com" she ends the call.

a few seconds later a zoom link arrives. i copy it over to my computer take a deep breath close my eyes

and click it

python judy is very pretty she has strawberry blonde hair that tumbles in waves her skin is faintly tanned she has dreamcatcher earrings but her smile is the most beautiful thing about her it lights up her face

i show her the basic python commands var1 = int(input("Chose a number: ") var2 = var1 + 3  print (var2)

her face lights up even more as we use turtle to draw a christmas tree i hand the 'remote control' of my screen over to her so she can do some of the work she makes turtle draw our initials in morse code.

at some point i turn on christmas music we start singing along. it's the first time i've felt like singing in a long time.

love knows no season, love knows no climb romance can blossom, any old time here in the open, we're walkin' and hopin' together.

jingle bells the next time we zoom judy's wearing reindeer antlers with little bells on them. she says it's her turn to provide the music and puts on the charlie brown christmas album it's the sound of my childhood christmas and it makes me want to cry but at the same time i'm singing along and grinning she switches it to a peggy lee album and then a jack jones one we're singing along hopelessly out of time because of the lag on zoom but neither of us minds


 * do u wanna zoom for a movie some time?
 * i can screenshare
 * maybe the muppet christmas carol?
 * yh!!!!!!
 * epic :)
 * would 3 tmrw work?
 * also yh!
 * also epic :)
 * c u @3
 * also epic :)
 * c u @3

zoom we watch the entirety of 'the muppet christmas carol' in one sitting the movie is as familiar to her as it is to me we quote all the great lines laugh together at sam the eagle and "fozziwig" and miss piggy sing along to every song

christmas eve i call judy on christmas eve i ask her to watch from her window at ten i say i have something important to tell her she says yes

mistletoe, morse code and midnight madness it's two hours till midnight on christmas eve anticipation hangs in the air like mistletoe i'm crouching at my window my flashlight feels heavy in my hands

the windowpane is frosted over. i press my hands to it to melt the ice.

judy waves from across the street. i take a deep breath and begin my message.

dot dot pause dot dash dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot dash dot pause dash dot dash dash dash dash dash dot dot dash

i love you.

there's a pause. a long, terrible pause. and then a light comes from her window.

dot dot pause dot dash dot dot dash dash dash dot dot dot dash dot pause dash dot dash dash dash dash dash dot dot dash pause dash dash dash dash dash dash dash

i love you too.

author's note: the origin of this story was the writing prompt "write a story with christmas song lyrics as the title that doesn't involve christmas day", given to me by one of my irl friends. somehow this chaotic thing came into being- if you spot any errors please let me know! as ever, ty for reading <3 ~riley