Pity She did not

The street was very crowded today. People were celebrating this recently made-up festival. She hated crowded streets. She hated people. Especially when there were too many of them in one place at the same time. And now with these new inventions, there were often many people gathered somewhere in the city.

As she was trying to pass through people, her mind was occupied with the job interview she was heading to. How would it go? Would she embarrass herself? Would she get the job? It had been quite a while she got into such an interview and she was nervous. But she was confident.

Her confidence paid off and she got the job. But she did not expect to be positioned to a city that she did not know anything about. Moving out of this familiar place frightened her. Despite this fear, though, she had to move. The position was so prestigious that she would be stupid if she did not. It was promising.

She passed though the same streets, bumping into the same people, as she headed back home. The walk-back felt different. She felt like she was leaving family behind as she looked at these people that she was angry at just a few hours ago. She felt tears in her eyes, just like she would have had if she was leaving her actual family now. She was surprised at how her feelings had changed and why they had changed.

It was not only because she was leaving the city she lived in for years, but also because the only thing she knew about the new city was that it was calm. Too calm for her. She realized she would greatly miss the comfort of feeling part of the city community.

Until she had to leave the crowd, she did not know she liked them or needed them. Pity she did not.