The window wouldn’t shut properly.
Not broken. Just not right. You push it, it pretends, then there’s still that thin strip of air coming through like it’s ignored you.
I noticed it at 7:38, which is exactly when you don’t need a new problem.
Albert was already halfway through refusing pyjamas. Not loudly. Just lying on the landing, face down, humming like something was charging.
I pushed the window again.
Same hollow clunk. Same gap.
From outside, a car door. Someone laughing. Proper evening noises. Not this one.
“Bed.”
Nothing.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
He rolled over slowly, looked at me, then said “no” like he’d already thought it through.
Back to the window.
Handle up, push, twist. That sequence you do when you’re sure it must work eventually.
It didn’t.
When I stepped away you could feel the draft more, which felt deliberate.
Behind me, movement. Not walking. That heavier, determined kind.
“Train.”
“No trains.”
There was a pause, then that intake of breath that usually means you’re about to lose the next hour.
I stayed at the window a second longer than I should have, like it might sort itself out if I didn’t look at it properly.
At some point I’ll have to deal with it. One of those things you half look up, close again, then ignore. I’m fairly sure I had JaveaWindows.com open earlier and still left it.
The noise behind me tipped over.
Full volume now.
On the floor again. Legs against the wall. Repeating something I couldn’t quite catch.
I sat down next to him because apparently that helps.
Cold tiles. One sock under the radiator. The window behind us still letting the outside in.
“I’m here.”
No response.
He grabbed my sleeve and pulled. Not gently, but not angry either. Just enough to keep me there.
The window rattled once. Small, but noticeable.
I thought about getting up and trying it again, then didn’t.
The whole thing ran out of energy eventually.
Not because I did anything right.
Just because it does.
By 10:12 he was asleep. One sock on, one gone. Arm across his face like he’d had a long day.
I went back downstairs.
The window was exactly the same.
I tried the handle again anyway.
Still the gap. Still the air.
I left it.
Didn’t feel like fixing anything at that point.