The intrusion found me scrambling for excuses. Not so different than any other night--rain or no rain, sex or no sex, alone or in the company of the perfect stranger. The brightness was mine alone, though I knew I was completely unworthy of its warmth. The sullenness of mediocrity had become my best pal--my best gal, and the worst of lovers. Until you arrived--opportunity--the pay off of loneliness, and callousness, and thankless self-pity. Opportunity shone bright through the dingy curtains of what I had come to know as home--of what I had come to accept.