I strolled merrily clutching my jacket around me sheltering me from the cold

I looked up and believed I saw her and smiled

Then knocked back by a harsh cold reality

I realised it couldn’t be her

I looked back past my oblivious friends

And saw the mistaken woman looked nothing like her.

A trick of the light, a trick of my mind.

And she was gone again.

I returned to the under lit hall,

It was damp and dingy but smelt so familiar

Everything still looked the same, peoples faces still smiled

The floorboards still creaked

The heating still smelt.

But it didn’t feel the same.

People tiptoed around her name in conversation.

And the subject changed quickly when that uncomfortable air grew thick around her name.

I couldn’t fake my smile anymore.

Life has become too real.

And again we learn the hard way; life just isn’t like the movies.