The Window Seat

The Window Seat

Our arms touched ever so lightly from close and forced sharing. I shut my eyes as a protective curtain, shuttering my limited privacy. I could feel the middle-aged man looking most quizzedly at the pretending-to-sleep me, sitting in seat 23A. “Captive audience” was not, nor would ever be on this gal’s resume, but as the plane shifted slightly, I did it…I moved, and he knew I was alive, and a belted-in, imprisoned listener. Then he began to tell me all about his life—against my will. As he took a deep breath before rambling on and on, I made some quick mental notes, trying not to be obvious. I memorized the parts of his life that were juicy and ripe for the pages of my next novel—already late to my agent. When “The Window Seat” is released in the Fall of 2018, and you recognize the character as your life–not mine, maybe the next time your seatmate feigns sleep you’ll think twice before your mouth freely blurts out your life.

—Connie Anderson

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