At first, a lone figure stood at the window. His face smiled at everyone who happened to glance at it in morning traffic, see it as they walked past in a parking lot, noticed it as they pulled out their neighboring driveway. The man, though alone, perpetually smiled from his fixed spot at the window.

The next time the man was noticed was when cans tied below his window hopped and clanked on the pavement as he sped down the road– but this time, the man’s smile seemed to be bigger and more prominent when it was matched by the woman who now joined him. Their faces smiled at everyone who happened to glance at them in morning traffic, see them as they walked past in a parking lot, noticed them as they pulled out their neighboring driveway. The man and the woman perpetually smiled from their fixed spot at the window.

It had been a while since the day with the bouncing cans. The man and the woman still smiled as they traveled, except now a tiny smile came from the bottom of the window in the form of a small girl. Her face grinned at everyone who happened to glance at it in morning traffic, see it as they walked past in a parking lot, noticed it as they pulled out their neighboring driveway. The family perpetually smiled from their fixed spot at the window.

Through the years, the young child was joined by a dog, a young boy, a cat. They all had matching expressions with mouths stretched from ear to ear and happy eyes that never changed as the children became older, growing as tall as their parents. The six faces smiled at everyone who happened to glance at them in morning traffic, see them as they walked past in a parking lot, noticed them as they pulled out their neighboring driveway. The sibling, the parents, and the pets perpetually smiled from their fixed spot at the window.

One day, the mother’s living counterpart emerged from her house. She approached the car parked outside, gazing at the happy family at the window with an expression that was unlike the ones that greeted her, an expression that was hollow and blank. The mother carefully removed the man from the window before retreating back inside. I was one of the last to see the smiling man at the window as I pulled out of my neighboring driveway, the happy man who would never again be seen by anyone who walked past in a parking lot, who happened to glance at his window in morning traffic.

The car was sold within the same week.