everything was tinged with magic.

there it was. that silly, overwrought, ill-advised word: magic.

but that's how it seemed.

the gentle, teeming snowflakes--exhausted and exhausting only days before now new again. and clear.

the passing of a guy she had known seven years before. as strangers. smiling at the near run-in, ducking her head, giving thanks for the miss.

the skateboarders on the overpass. the grinding of their frantic wheels contrasting the steady hurtling moan of the subway.

she wore no makeup. and felt beautiful. felt the eyes of the men around her.

this is happiness.

the thought didn't flicker past, didn't approach slowly. it just was. everywhere and all at once--encircling, encompassing, bone-rattling.