She stood there seemingly undecided. From my window I watched her reach out her hand to the doorbell but it stopped in mid-air. Amused I thought to myself, “What’s going on?”

Suddenly, she turned towards me, as if she sensed someone watching her. I took a couple of steps back, feeling a twinge of guilt even though I wasn’t sure she had actually seen me. Within that brief moment before she disappeared from my range of view, I saw it; the sadness in her eyes. A sadness that was so profound that in spite of the distance between us, I could feel its intensity.

It struck me then that she was probably so lost in her own thoughts she had turned towards me unconsciously. Even as I felt bad about catching her at such a vulnerable moment, I watched on, hoping to catch another glimpse of that look.

You see, I know that look. I’ve seen it before, twice to be exact - the last was in ‘96. It spoke to me then just as it seemed to be speaking to me now, through the eyes of a stranger. As she walked away, I knew I would never learn what was plaguing her. It didn’t matter, I didn’t need to know why. Somehow I just understood.

F