1)

it started with a smile. that’s all. a simple smile across the crowded room. like a neutron bomb rippling across my consciousness.

2)

it ended with a smile. that’s all. a simple smile across an empty room. like a shattering of glass that was my entire being.

3)

how many smiles between? how many secret glances shared with a small twitch of the lips? how many smiles burnt into my mind?

4)

it started falling apart when the smile faded. when sorrow tinted the now flaccid grin. when it stopped reaching her eyes.

5)

echoes of her laughter still fill the darkened hallways of my mind. whispers of a better time. before her smile was torn from my soul.

6)

she would smile as i ranted. before she learned to hate my expressions of disbelief. before it became old hat. an annoyance.

7)

i still smiled. right up until end. wistfully as the entire world fell apart. as the ground fell from beneath my feet. i still smiled.

8)

is it possible to be haunted by the ghost of a smile? to see it ingrained in everything? to turn your head as it follows you?

2)

it ended with a smile. that’s all. a simple smile across an empty room. like a shattering of glass that was my entire being.

1)

it started with a smile. that’s all. a simple smile across the crowded room. like a neutron bomb rippling across my consciousness.

0)

i dreamt of a smile. a frozen moment of perfection. of joy in a world that only knew how to hurt. it was all i sought. all that was.