In Kate Peterson’s short story “Appearance”, there is the main character Ellen, who lives by herself in a studio apartment in west Cleveland. She’s been living there a little bit more than a month. Since her first day in that new apartment she’s been seeing a stranger in the window outside her room. She didn’t do a great deal of it, but was a little bit scary. It went on for about a week that way. She thought she’s been living a normal life with the exception of this guy. She began to name him “my gloomy window friend”. One day she noticed a woman who was stared at Ellen’s door. The situation repeated three times.
But the woman always has driven away. On the fourth time the woman stayed even when Ellen came to her. It was Ellen who set the ball rolling. She remembered landlord telling her about some couple had lived there before her. There was a tragic story about them. The woman was very upset, but still she answered that her name was Amy. Then Ellen invited her to come in for a little while. They entered the apartment but Ellen felt uneasy that the room was uncomfortable. First of all Amy would like to see the place where she was happy. They have spoken a little about period when Amy has lived here with her fiancee.
She told Ellen that he was a musician and his name was Eric. Also she told her about his untimely death. He committed suicide. Amy loved him very much. And she missed Eric. Ellen confessed Amy that she has seen the ghostly apparition of her lover. But Amy was not excessively amazed about it. She just wondered about his speaking ability. And maybe in this very moment she experienced a great sense of relief for her suffering has vanished. Although incapable of seeing him, Amy is able to feel him. And then she left. Ellen realized that she will never see this woman again.
