Smile

The day is dreary; faces of buildings disconsolate and darkened by tears. Sidewalks sullen, streetlights soaked in cold-sweat; tall trees like willows weeping -  all stained in somber shades from the persistent precipitation.

Behind the low-hanging clouds, everyone walking along hurriedly, slightly hunched, to keep their heads from hitting them, the sun still shines, but no one cares. Happiness is hard to hold onto when it rains. For the rain, happiness is suede shoes, or a woman's hair; a love note left on the windshield of a car.

Up ahead, on the walk home, a young woman with dark hair walks out of a coffee-shop toward her car. A homeless man sits beneath the awning taking shelter, trying to stay dry. As she passes, he speaks to her, artfully walking the line between harassment and flattery, sincerity and lies.

"Smile," he says, "when you do, it makes the world brighter."