What do you see when you look out through "your" window? In his freshman work, Zachary Calais takes the reader on a journey through not only time, but also the entire spectrum of emotion, from joyous bliss to heart wrenching sorrow. Each one of the stories in this collection is capable of standing on its own. However, the reader soon discerns a gentle, underlying rhythm, not unlike a heartbeat, which weaves the tales together with a delicate, yet strong, thread of continuity. From the poignant titular story "Observations from a Third-Story Window," moving through to the humor of "The Ballad of Big Red," to the brutally honest series of vignettes collected into "My Life as a Fairy Tale," you will not be left untouched by either the powerful narrative, or the themes and imagery that Zachary creates in the tapestry of this collection.