Windowpane - Alyssa Asaro

I lean my head against the car window willing the raindrop of my choosing to reach the bottom first

It doesn’t

And I wonder how long I’ve been here

In a race against time where everyone loses

Looking up from my reverie I see that nothing changed while I was gone

Minutes passed deemed the air still frigid from a fight unresolved and the silence palpable

I turn my music up and go back to staring at the muddled world beyond this space thinking about

how I'll never know what it feels like to be happy without some sort of guilt

For the drop that didn’t make it

And for the one that did I stare longingly as one song ends and the next one begins

Cutting the dramatics for a moment when I see a dog in the car next to ours

Tongue out and panting

Escaping?

Soaking in a road he’s never known and without thinking I roll down my window too

Met with surprised jumps and a voice that cuts through the static I stick my head out and breathe

Winds so forceful it’s not even relaxing but freeing

To be somewhere else

For a second until I’m yanked back by a shout and a pull

Suddenly back in the car with tension that returns with a vengeance, but I don’t really mind

because my mind is screaming loud enough for everyone to hear it

I’m going to do things you can only dream of

In places you’ll never know

Alyssa Asaro is an aspiring writer and editor based in Chicago, IL. She can be found on Instagram @neverthelessshewrote and on Twitter @rambleshewrote.