A moment's happiness

"Are you happy?", she asked him. He wanted to ask her back what she meant by happiness and whether she meant happiness right now at this moment, or generally in life. He looked beyond her serene brown eyes and through the beige wall that held her medical degrees and certificates which spoke of her psychiatric achievements. He peered into a void that his heart was and asked himself what he defines as happiness? And what makes him happy? What makes him enjoy life better? Is it family, friends, gadgets, toys, games, sports, etc? "Well... Maybe." he thought but he wished he was more alive. More capable of happiness and of enjoying the happiness. He wanted to be euphoric, to dance, to enjoy the happiness that comes his way. "Maybe I'm not happy because I don't cry a lot. Ironic but true." he though to himself. There were tears in him which he hasn't emptied out in years. Pain which he swallowed. And excuses which hid his despair behind a mask of indifference. "Are you happy?", she asked him again. His wandering eyes met hers and all he did was give a gentle apathetic smile. Stories from a book that I will never write.