Peeping Tom, Page 2

  *****

  Thomas drifted off into a drunken dreamland and visited his youthful self. He had left his house early on a Saturday morning to rendezvous with a neighbor boy and explore a new bike trail. Arriving at the boy's house, Thomas' younger form skirted around the side of the structure and knocked on his friend's bedroom window. When no answer came, seeking to avoid alerting the boy's parents, Thomas moved to the next window. However, before he could knock, his friend's twelve-year-old sibling appeared through the glass, returning from a shower. Upon removing her towel to continue drying and dress, she noticed him watching.

  Her screams sent him running home, but the house phone was already ringing when he returned, and then his parents were screaming... at him. Counseling, therapy and decades of social ridicule followed, fueled largely by his portly appearance, beady eyes and thick glasses. But most of all, his unfortunate first name ensured that the dubious title of Peeping Tom would brand itself to him for the rest of his solitary life.