Window Garden

I was wandering around my home town, which is a small city in the Midwest. I was born and raised in this town, and I was full of nostalgia for memories of my childhood. 

As I wandered, nothing was quite as I had remembered. It felt like I was in an alternate dimension, where everything had a retro futurist aesthetic, especially in the downtown area where I was exploring. 

My home city has only a few skyscrapers, one of which I had a very distinctive memory of from my childhood. This was the tallest building in the city, a 27-story reinforced concrete skyscraper in the modern style. It was monolithic with generic rectangular windows with an adjoining tower that specifically housed the elevators. A skybridge connected the building to a parking garage across a one-way multi-lane road. 

I had a memory of the skybridge from my childhood. The sky bridge had a glass roof, so I could see the tower looming overhead. It was here that I remember my father had brought me during a thunderstorm. I remember being scared of crossing the bridge during the storm, but being perhaps around five or six, much still frightened me at the time. Once across the bridge, we rode the elevator up to the 13th floor, which housed the "Window Garden Cafe", a local restaurant that served breakfast and lunch. My father got me chocolate milk, and perhaps some chicken nuggets or something of the sort. I remember looking out over the panoramic view of the city during storm, sipping on a pint-sized carton of chocolate milk with my father. 

Now in my forties, I found myself craving chocolate milk and chicken nuggets. I wanted to relive the memory as best I could, so I set out to seek information on where to go. It had been so long since I had been to the Window Garden Cafe, that I had forgotten how to get there. 

I went to the city Visitor Center to get information, which was a couple blocks away from One Summit Square, the name of the building I was headed to. Sadly, when I got information on the Window Garden Cafe, I found out that it had been closed for some years now. I was told that it was off limits due to having been infected by the COVID Pandemic, and that no one was allowed inside. It was now abandoned. 

This wasn't going to stop me from my nostalgic chocolate milk quest. Like the rebel that I was, I briskly walked a few blocks to the parking garage, and went up to the second level, where the sky bridge was. It was time to recreate my memory, for nostalgia's sake.

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It was overcast and lightly raining. I stood at the center of the skybridge, and I felt like the six-year-old version of myself as I craned my neck, staring straight up through the glass roof of the skybridge at the monolithic skyscraper. 

I proceeded to enter the lobby where there were eight greenish elevators, four on either side of an arched hall, next to a stairwell. It all felt nostalgic, as the decor held a nineties aesthetic.

The Window Garden Cafe was supposed to be on the 13th floor, so I rode the elevator up. The ride up took longer than it seemed like it should, but when the door dinged and opened, I found myself in a surreal scene. 

The entire floor had grass growing from it, and the cafe was empty. It wasn't quite as I had remembered, but the red seats and tables were similar to what was retained within my memory. 

I wandered around the cafe, which occupied the entire 13th floor of the tower. The windows provided a panoramic view of the city skyline, and there were puffy white clouds drifting around, which didn't make sense, since I was only 13 stories up. 

There was a buffet counter, which was devoid of any food or drink. It was evident that the cafe had been closed for some time, and the strangeness of the grass that was growing in there enhanced the feeling of isolation as I wandered around. 

When I turned a corner, I saw a stainless steel refrigerator that had a greenish neon glow illuminating the off-white wall behind it. It was humming, so I decided to look inside. 

Eureka! The fridge was stocked with pint-size cartons of chocolate milk! I chugged several cartons, and stuffed my navy blue jacket's pockets with several more for later. 

A few moments later, I found a counter that had a cotton ball cloud that seemed to resemble the shape of a cat laying on it. At first, I didn't think much of it, as I was focused on finding chicken nuggets. I searched in vain behind the counter, but all the cabinets and counters were empty. 

As I was moving away, I suddenly heard a soft and muffled "meow" come from the cotton cloud. Startled, I looked back behind me. The cloud had moved closer to me! I saw no eyes, nor movement, so I felt like I was imagining things. I continued wandering around the cafe, looking for whatever I could find. 

"Mmeewwppfftt!" I glanced back, and saw that the cotton cloud had followed me across the cafe! Before my eyes, it morphed into a more distinct cat shape, and blue eyes were now staring at me. 

"Cottonball?" I nervously mumbled, deciding to give a name to the enigmatic entity.

The cloudy cottonball kitty seemed to want me to follow it, so I did. Was it friend or foe? I would soon know. 

~~~~~~~~

Cottonball led me to the elevator lobby, where it opened the door to the stairwell. We were on the 13th floor, and Cottonball began climbing up the stairs. Not accustomed to such strenuous activity, I began to huff and puff as I followed the cloudy cat. 

Occasionally, I would see it's head pop out between the stair railings and peer down at me, possibly judging my out-of-shape self. I tried to quicken my pace to keep up, but the higher we got, the more weary I became, and I fell behind. 

Finally, we reached the top, floor 27. Although the lobby had a glass wall that allowed a panoramic view, there was dense clouds outside, so there wasn't much to see. The elevator lobby looked identical to the ones on the lower levels, except there was a spiral staircase in the far back corner that led to a closed trap door in the ceiling. 

Cottonball climbed the spiral stairs and pushed the trap door open, and a sudden rush of air whooshed out, as if the surreal space had depressurized. My ears popped, and as I adjusted to the pressure change, I followed Cottonball out onto the roof of the tower. 

The tower roof was a solid concrete plain patio with low walls. Up here, I could see nothing but a sea of clouds. There didn't seem to be a bottom, much less my home city, to speak of. Just a surreal expanse of sky and clouds. It was an enigma up here. 

"Meaupfftt!" said Cottonball from behind me. 

When I turned, Cottonball leapt away, apparently wanting me to continue following. 

In the far corner of the tower was a bizarre, but beautiful, sight. There was an old, red, wooden covered bridge that connected the edge of the tower to a floating circular island. The floating island appeared to be a garden, with random windows attached to it. 

Cottonball crossed the bridge, and I followed. As I crossed the bridge, I noticed how still and quiet it suddenly became. The wind had been chaotic and noisy on the top of the tower, but now it was serene and still and silent. 

The island was a serene little garden, with a few stone arches that were possibly gateways. The plants were plush and green with life, and the windows were made of weathered wood and foggy glass, some of which had panes missing. 

Cottonball sat beside one of the stone arches, staring at me as I casually wandered through the serene and tranquil window garden. Cottonball was patient as I peered through the panes, pondering where my path would lead me next. 

Just as that thought crossed my mind, a portal opened within one of the stone arches, and like a shroud being lifted, I could see a whole new world on the other side. 

Cottonball floated through the gateway, and I followed. 

Just like that, I was now standing atop a grassy hill in a sunny realm of gently rolling hills with strange suburban houses in various pastel colors sitting atop the hills at random angles, and the sky was bright blue with perfectly puffy white clouds. In the distance, an owl hooted and a few birds chirped. 

Cottonball floated away, dissolving and dispersing in random directions, leaving me alone. 

Where was I? Should I explore this strange new world? Was I ready for another new adventure? 

I had some chocolate milk with me, which gave me confidence for some reason, so I put one foot in front of the other, stepping into the unknown.