Trying to Make Sense of Lights and Shadows

Is there a secret smile beyond what the light can see, when the surface reveals but a dark shape cast by the light behind you? Knowing makes all the difference.

There I was, reading Ender's Shadow from Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series, at the Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library. Photo taken on 2006-02-28. Book courtesy of a kindred spirit from a far away place.