a man catches a glimpse of a woman. he thinks of her for a few seconds and then doesn’t. she is just someone he has seen. some time later, he sees her again. this time for longer. only for a few seconds longer. he thinks about her for longer. at first, thoughts of her come in waves. then stronger. he thinks it is ridiculous that he thinks of her like this, but it doesn’t stop. he starts to imagine things about her; what her smile looks like, if her eyes crinkle up when she does smile. if she does at all. her favourite books, songs and films, whether she even likes books, has favourite songs or films. he imagines what she would look like when she’d look up at him; small things like that. small, but noticeable things. some time after that, they talk. they noticed each other. they agree to talk further, they agree to talk for longer. they talk and have some things in common, and some things not in common, but that is okay. they share things and some time after that, they share more things and don’t share some things. some time after that, they grow apart. the man had imagined many things and things had turned out to be different. he continues to imagine things about her; the things he had imagined before. he continues this connection with her in his head. she left some time before that. the man becomes reclusive. he imagines things alone.