text: The world was a cruel place for him. He went through the days, wearing a smile, fake and forced. There are those who have to wear a mask, simply to fit in with everybody else. Play a role that society wants them to play. That was his plight. It had gotten easy for him to pretend he was happy. A simple smile. “I’m just tired.” But play a part for long enough, one begins to forget who they really are. The lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur. It’s nice to have the fantasy of happiness for a little while. But when cruel reality strikes its tactless hand, it can shatter everything one holds dear. It was another typical night for him. Nights were even tougher for him than the daytime. He was typically alone, so he would remove his worldly mask and let his true self be free. He laid in bed, crying himself to sleep like he normally did. There was never a reason. It was easy to lie to the world around him. He did it every day. But he could never lie to himself. He was just sad. No one said or did anything to him, but that could have been part of the problem. People assume that when there is no one, that also means no one to cause pain. This is true, but it also means there is no one to end the pain. And for him though, this was more than pain. It was suffering. Seemingly endless. Unnecessary. Unrelenting. He would eventually fall asleep. Not because of choice, but because of exhaustion. He woke up the next morning, cursed the world and begrudgingly worked to prepare himself for another day. He went to the grocery store, where he felt out of place. Everyone was so...happy. They would smile to each other and wish each other “Good Morning,” a phrase he considered to be an oxymoron. When someone said as much to him, he forced a smile and would simply say “Morning.” He moved on, sulking through the aisles, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. He didn’t know these people, nor did he want to know them. There was no reason to act happy. Act like everything was right in the world. Act like he belonged, even though he knew he didn’t. He continued walking when he spotted a woman up ahead. Something was different about her. She was dressed like everyone else, but he could tell there was something very different about her. He was tempted to go talk to her, but he knew how much he hated when someone did that to him. Walk up and strike a conversation for without a good reason. Instead, he took in her simple beauty for a second and then continued about his shopping. He walked past her just like he did to every other person in the aisle. But as he walked past, he heard someone say “Hey,” in a simply wonderful voice. He turned around to see the girl looking at him. She smiled and said “Morning.” The smile he now wore was genuine as he simply replied “Morning.