SPYING ON THE NEIGHBOURS

I did not really want to disturb my neighbours. Each night I would close the curtains without even glancing in their direction.

My inquisitiveness was compelling and difficult to resist. After all, I had watched them move in and seen their soft furnishings.

It was those eyes: sometimes staring up at me; sometimes with feigned indifference as I peered through the smeared glass to see if someone was at home.

There usually was.

I took to sitting in the garden, surreptitiously monitoring their movements.

I even watched them raising a family.

Then one day the Cape Robins abandoned their nest.

[Last summer a pair of Cape Robins nested in a lavender bush outside our french doors and I was able to observe them through the glass].

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