A distant smile

Laughter, like an oddity.

Then, like the first drop of rain on a sunny day, a sudden disquiet. Her head turns to the window, looking out. Green trees and golden spires, little feet on soft grass, resounding bells over relentless traffic. Beyond all of it, distant but impending gray clouds, a romantic melancholy. Beyond even them, an unseen sunshine that promises a glow warmed by nostalgia. Were that it could be so, her yearning mind sighs. That things that have gone by, those that are passed, can come back to make this time whole.

To make laughter feel right, normal, complete.
And happy.