The World in Color | Teen Ink

The World in Color MAG

November 6, 2016
By Emma_Brass BRONZE, Atwater, California
Emma_Brass BRONZE, Atwater, California
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

He didn’t go when the lighter gray light told him to. He stared, ignoring the traffic racing around him.
This is color. He wasn’t sure which colors, but he didn’t care.
He was fixated on her hair – her hair. It was brown, red, blonde, black, and every other color he had learned hair could be but never seen. Normal people saw like this. Every day. It only lasted a few seconds for him before he was thrust back into his monotonous world when she drove around the corner.
He spotted her a few days later at a café. Suddenly, he developed a strong craving for coffee.
She was easy to spot in the gray-scale crowds, especially today. Her hair glowed like sheet metal. She wore a bright red blouse. Maybe it was just regular red, but it stood out in the endless sea of gray.
She was sitting at an outside table with a drink in her hand, staring at her laptop screen with a look of perplexity on her face.
He crossed the street, ordered a coffee, and found himself sitting at the table next to hers. He could stare for hours and still never figure out how she made the very air around her shimmer with vibrancy.
Her hair was black. That much he knew.
Not a colorless, dead black like he was used to, but a black like obsidian – glossy like the reflection of the night sky in a lake.
Black hair, red coat, blue jeans.
He watched as she reached for her cup, and ovals of color appeared around her fingers as she gripped the cup sleeve. It was brown. As she put the drink to her lips he saw the cap was white, but not in a colorless black-and-white way; she managed to make this white a color, a new color that he had never seen before.
He frowned when she put the cup down and the moment was shattered.
He set to work trying to figure out the color of her shoes. She looked up, noticed his gaze, looked down at her shoes confusedly, then looked back up at him.
Her eyes – her eyes. Hazel, the most beautiful shade of hazel he had ever seen, with sun-colored flecks of gold mingling with green streaks.
“Excuse me?” Those eyes were on him. “Can I help you?”
He was under the scrutiny of those eyes.
“Your, uh- I like your shirt,” he blubbered.
“Thanks.” Hesitant.
He stared at his coffee cup, trying to re-create the color that she had so easily made. He couldn’t.
“Can I buy you a muffin?”
She squinted quizzically.
“Or – or a scone. Biscotti?”
A slow, unsure smile crept on her face,
“Sure. What’s your name?”
“Harris.”
“Well, Harris, it’s nice to meet you. My name’s Lucy.” She closed the laptop, setting it aside and motioning for him to sit with her.
Minutes later, they were laughing, talking over blueberry muffins and coffee. That was the day he learned that blueberries are actually purple.



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This article has 3 comments.


6547ujh BRONZE said...
on Feb. 28 2018 at 9:10 pm
6547ujh BRONZE, Aubrey, Texas
1 article 0 photos 17 comments
It created a wonderful image in my head, you have a beautiful way of describing things.

estelle2022 said...
on Feb. 2 2018 at 3:00 pm
estelle2022, Portland, Oregon
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments
Your descriptions are fabulous! I was transported into another world while reading this. Love it!

on Aug. 10 2017 at 5:17 am
SeekJustice BRONZE, Goulburn, Other
1 article 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.&quot; --Jim Elliot<br /> <br /> &quot;And what does the Lord require of you? To Seek Justice, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly with your God.&quot; Micah 6:8

This was a really sweet story. Well done!