Ode to the disenfranchised

Ever got the feeling the whole world has moved on and somehow you were inexplicably left behind?
There's this recurring vision, brought upon when you're sub conscious, as a result of having lucid dreams, where you're standing by an unknown river, wearing a cardigan and a scarf staring out in the distance, the city lights reflecting off the surface of the river. For a few, precious seconds, it would seem that the world would truly belong to you only, the maddening crowd far away from you, and a sense of calm would fall over you.
Then those fleeting moments of peace would be cruelly taken from you, the illusion shattered by your alarm clock screeching in your ear to get up and face another day. You wake not with trepidation, but with hope. Maybe today will be a good day.
You groggily get up and wash up, savouring the last few moments of that delightful dream, before shrugging it off as a mere dream and by the time you put on your clothes and rushed out of the door, you would have forgotten the bulk of that dream, mind now filled with thoughts about the coming day.
You immerse yourself in the hustle and bustle of work. It makes you feel important, as you try to effectively multi-task and do many areas of work at the same time. As 5 o'clock comes, you drag yourself out of your workplace, exhausted, perhaps due to work, but probably more likely due to the politicking you had to endure.
You walk past the blank faces of other people returning home from work. You glance at couples being all lovey-dovey, you react by quickening your step and looking away. Yet you secretly harbour hope that the next good looking guy or girl would somehow for some reason or another be besotted with you. You tsk at those youths wearing their school uniform disrespectfully while engaging in open displays of emotion for each while strolling down aimlessly orchard road when in your opinion they should be back home studying, yet you secretly lament the fact that you spent far too much time hitting the books and never had the chance to let loose somewhat. You hanker for those uncomplicated school days when all you worried about was studies and whether the girl/guy you had a crush on would like you.
You slow your footsteps. You can feel the energy swirling around the neighbouring mall, the business, the noise, the activity of it all; you don't want to go home so soon, you just want to stay behind, let the crowd take away some of the loneliness you feel. But you know such an act is hollow, as it just serves to artificially fill up the void in your heart. You tell yourself not to be such a weakling, that you should just suppress such feelings and head home, where more important chores like laundry await you. Yet, in the face of such irrefutable logic, you dally for that 5 minutes more, before turning your back to that soulless place.
Home is where the defences of the day come down, no more masks, no more make up, no more fake pretenses. You relax, put on some relaxing music, do your chores before settling down to perhaps watch a bit of TV, surf the net for a while, or read a book. Your eyes may be closing, your mind shutting down, every nerve fibre of your body asking to just lie upon that inviting bed and give yourself up to merciful slumber, but yet you refuse its advances, as you know once your eyes close for the last time today, when you open them again the same cycle of madness will repeat itself again, and despite your body's pleas you resist the urge to sleep, in a feeble attempt to put off the inevitable.
Then, when you finally surrender, you run through what happened today, and realise that chances are, tomorrow will be another carbon copy of today.
Then you ask yourself, why do I bother to get up then?
You answer your own question.
You bother to get up as tomorrow may be a better day than today.
Something good may happen to you tomorrow, who's to know?
Safe in that knowledge, you let your mind drift off again.
Next thing you know, yet another dream will be shattered by the screeching of the alarm clock.
Time to face another day.
You wake not with trepidation, but with hope.
Maybe today will be a better day.