Colors

One year ago, the world had been full of life for Ana. Each leaf was a distinct hue different from the last on every tree, and the path ahead of her was painted gold with the affluence that comes with being in love. After finding her soulmate, the static grays she used to see before the First Touch became such vibrant colors that she had been momentarily blinded by what the world really was when her hand first brushed against Isaac’s on the sidewalk; she’d wept right after she could finally process it all, and she and Isaac had spent the rest of the day looking at all the colors they couldn’t see before of mundane objects. The impossible blueness of a perfectly clear lake; the red on a pair of ladybugs that had landed on her sleeve; and the flush of pink on Isaac’s cheeks when she looked at him were all things she couldn’t have fathomed before.

It was a beautiful time to be alive, but like with all beautiful things, they became accustomed to it. The vibrance that had once seemed opulent to them became commonplace, as did the arguments they would have. Ana hadn’t caught on to how the world was slowly being leeched of its color until one day, when Isaac was standing in the doorway with a suitcase, she realized that she could see the glistening of tears on his lashes but could no longer see the blue in his eyes. Just a shining gray, like graphite that could never become diamond.

Ana walks down the path she had met Isaac on, her jacket already soaked through with rain. The lake behind the trees glimmers, but the water is black under the night sky and the plants surrounding it are just different shades of gray. Three years ago on this day, she and Isaac were huddled under an umbrella trying to comprehend the world that had just been painted before their eyes.

Now, Ana just pulls her jacket tighter around herself and walks straight down the path back to her house without another look around.