City Lights

Cities have a life of their own as well. The sprawling city under her feet was adorned with the light of the flickering bulbs on the shops and the malls, the steady illumination on the street side, the incandescent headlights of the noisy traffic and the sparks in the eyes of those who walked the pavement. It was a happy, cold, dark, silent, lonely city. She was happy, silent and lonely too. The silence of her ambience had seeped deep inside her and brought every noise to a deceptive calm, and the calm propelled her to observe, wonder and reflect at the sparking eyes of those who crossed the pavement several storeys below her, each knowing where to go next. She also wondered at her own glass-walled existence at the moment, where a comfortable chair rocked and a kind light fell on her shoulder as she lay still, allowing the moment to soak in.

This city was not hurried; people had a destination to go to, but not the mad zeal to get there faster. Her own life had miraculously become unhurried too; there was no place she needed to get to. What she had left behind, she knew not if she could re-gather those threads even if she wanted to. What she had in hand, could slip or stay and would make very little difference to her. And dreams, she didn't have any at the moment. She looked at her watch; she needed to get home, but since no one waited there for her, she could stay; she needed to get something to eat, but since there was no reason to go on living, she might as well skip a meal and see if that changes anything. She had memories to deal with, to examine closely so she could sift the ones which still held a meaning from the ones that testified the foolisheness of her beliefs. Down on the street, a child gazed up at the building which house her, marvelling at the decorated glass walls through which she caught gleaming hope in his eyes. She smiled in recognition; she smiled in admiration for the little joy that found a deserving heart to live in. She smiled because a tear calmly escaped from her eye and brought the reflection of the city lights upon her face. She smiled because she knew that her life was simply the empty serenity of that very moment when a shining city shone beneath her feet and amidst the lights and she was happy enough not to notice the shadow she lived in.

It's indeed simple to be happy.