Genuine happiness

"So..." I repeat the question, "what was that dream about?"

"Oh right," Laureen starts acting all nervous, "n-nothing much."

"Spill."

"Ok, ok," she sighs, "I was in a house near a cliff and I was there with some strange woman for a while, but she walked away. Then I saw you and Shawn. We mostly talked about Shawn, since the little furball was right there. And then you walked away in the same direction as that strange woman." She seems nervous, and I'm not sure if she's telling the truth or not. But whatever, I just shrug it off. All I can do is believe her, and I trust her. Besides, it's just a dream.

"Huh," I think about though, and it is similar to mine. "I had a similar one. A little different, but similar."

"Oh wow," she seems even more nervous, "what a coincidence..." She gives off a nervous laugh and takes a sip of her slushie.

"Ok," I say, changing the subject, "what kind of stores are here? Where do you want to go next?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that. There are a lot of good stores around here. I know you just got a cat, but there's a pet store here. A lot of people just go in and look, but they're ok with that. They let people pet the animals, it's a lot of fun."

"That does sound like a lot of fun! I love animals! Let's go!"

Laureen laughs that beautiful laugh again and says, "Also, there's an anime store I want to go to, It's almost Alex's birthday."

"It is?"

"Well, in about a week or so. But hey, it's good to get it while we're at the mall. This store is the only nearby store unless you count online shopping. It's his favorite place to get anime merch, but that's not all that's there. I've been there a lot, they have some jewelry and my favorite wizard series merch! However, since it's really popular, the merch is a lot. But it's still amazing quality!"

"Wait, you said jewelry? I could get a necklace for Mark."

"There are clothing stores in the mall, so I think we can get that dress and shoes. I know Alexis wants the dress from her, so she'll probably transfer money from her account to mine, and we pretty much just buy it for her. We'll give it to her to give to Mark, but we'll still have our things for Mark. I can also see if Alex wants to pitch in, he usually does."

"Sounds like a plan, man."

I get Laureen to laugh again, and I can't get enough. She replies through her laughter, "What saying is that? It's so funny!"

"I honestly have no clue," I laugh with her, and for once, I don't feel so empty. "but hey, it worked."

"Anyway," she stands up and stretches out her hand to me, "c'mon, let's go."

I stand up and take her hand. I was laughing for once, smiling. I felt happy for once. But happiness never stays, and I know that. I usually just dismiss it and wait for the next bad thing in life to happen. I never really enjoy it, let alone life. But for once, I feel it. Genuine happiness. In fact, some may just call it joy.