Light filtered in through the massive skylight, making the entire scene shine in an unreal light. Mom’s lovingly pulled their kids behind them joking and laughing about the stores they were going to stop in and what they planned on buying. Blushing couples held hands, but otherwise remained away from each other, as they shared a meal in the food court. The trim security guard was giving a serious speech to two boys who were nodding and rubbing their feet into the ground, ashamed. Shop owners and employees joking good-naturedly with their shoppers, giving them advice and waiting patiently as they took a while to choose. All was going on in a loud, but subdued noise, as if a giant bubble had fallen over the entire scene, making everything quiet.

But a cloud went over the sun, and slowly the true nature of the scene was revealed. The skylight was too dusty and filled with a thick layer of dirt to see much out of. The florescent lights did most of the work, giving off the feeling of a hospital room. Mom’s angrily and impatiently drug their whining, sometimes crying, kids behind them, ready to escape into the bottom of a glass to loose their worries. Couples leaned anywhere they could, against the wall, the fountain, benches, doors, garbage cans, fake trees, groping each other, glued together at the mouth. The overweight security guard screamed at two boys with sagging jeans, looking as if they could care less, his face was going red and the boys didn’t seem to care in the least. Shop owners and employees were impatiently waiting for the time they could clock out, snapping at each customer, eager to escape the prison that was work. And it was all happening in a loud roar, making it hard to hear the person next to you. There was nothing peaceful here.

I was at the mall.