Under the light of a 1000 colors

Was it worth it?  Osprey didn't have to look far and long to find an answer. It was at hand's length - yes and no in equal doses. Yes -  forgetting loneliness just for a moment, be like everyone else, who were happy with their special someones - it was an experience worth having, worth remembering. Because she might not have another chance, she was in her prime this year, things would be different from the next spring and those that would follow. She didn't feel old yet, but time was catching up with her - there was no way of denying it.

And no, because the misery she felt now was beyond anything that she had felt before. It seemed that, whatever she had built here was crumbling away. There would be more people having their opinions about this, making assumptions and asking her endless "whys", seeking reasons for her behavior and she was not going to open up her heart for everyone to make them understand. To have the slightest bit of pity, to have someone say - Osprey, you weren't wrong. Each of them were so wrapped up in their own little lives that they didn't notice someone suffering in silence.

Then she thought about, how many people hid their true feelings behind a smile, how each one of them here had some emotions to constantly restrain, how very few of them dared to let themselves be, fearing that the cost would be too high. "Do you want to be in my shoes now just for a moment?" she asked him rhetorically with a sad little smile.