random acts of senseless beauty

I sat on the tube looking at the array of life around me.

An old man lowered himself gingerly into his seat and prompty fell asleep, his hat slipping from his hand to rest on top of his briefcase.

A guy tutted at the report of the weekend game in the sports section.

A mid twenties girl reajusted her necklace and touched up her makeup in a small brown mirror.

The girl next to her closed her eyes and slowly shook her braided head to whatever was going on inside her headphones.

A boy studied his Tussauds brochure with enormous concentration while his mum did soduku.

And in the corner, across from me, a girl cried. Every now and then. Big silent tears while her hand sat under her nose. I ached for her. She caught my eye and I tried to look sympathetic yet hopeful. She looked away.

Then it happened.

The girl sitting next to me reached into her bag and handed her an unopened pocket pack of tissues. She smiled weakly at us as the woman next to her patted her on the arm.

Nobody said a word.