It Will Be...

For such three small words, there were a vast array of reactions; 

vigorous head shaking; 

"... but..."

"... no it won't"; 

"... but... it's anything but.." 

The ending you were actually going for was; …ok. So the sentence as a whole read; It will be ok.  

"But it won't be," she says again, tears trailing the well worn track from her eyes. "it's anything but." 

"I know," you say. "I know it feels that way." 

"It feels that way..." You can't help tensing at the way their voice grows louder with each word. "It feels that way because that's the way it is." 

You take a breath, mustering every ounce of patience you can find. "Right now." You pause for another breath. "But it might not always be that way. Do you think that just maybe, sometime soon, it might just be ok?" 

She shrugs. It's not complete acceptance, but it's not flat out refusal either. It's something in between. It's something, and you'll take it. 

"I think that it will be," I say. "I think that it will be ok."