The Stare
He had called it her thousand yard stare.
Why was he thinking about her now? A generation had passed.
He had caught a glimpse of her drifting through the crowd.
She had changed. THEY had changed, but he remembered that time and that look: her thousand yard stare. It had contained a myriad of warring emotions. Desperation, loss, wistfulness and overwhelming pain. But now, now, the thousand yard stare was gone. In it's place was something more remarkable in it's hardness: Distrust. Which was worse?
She faked it to the world: a hard, cold smile that didn't quite light up the irises.
He felt it then. No one truly knew her. He had thought that he knew her once. The world just accepted this non version of her. But he knew some of her past. Some of the pain. Some of the pleasure. Some of the reasons why her thousand yard stare had begun. And some of the reasons why she had been transformed into this... current veneer. Through everything she had always maintained. He was struck by his interest. The thorough lack of trust shook him.
He searched for her. He needed to know why. What had pushed her? He searched for her. She was gone. She drifted out of his life. Again. He was left wondering. Then again life will always contain secrets that cannot be answered.