A World Without Color

Lexy crouched atop a rock jutting out from the hillside overlooking her hometown, nestled in what had once been a riotously colorful valley. They had been a tourist town, only a few hours between the ocean and the mountains. Fewer people came and went nowadays, but she could still see movement among the buildings. Hardly anyone drove anymore, though, as the stop lights functioned less well when everything was gray. There had been several bad accidents at first, and now most people walked.

Most people had stopped watching TV as well. They had stopped decorating. A few determined artists kept attempting to ply their craft, but there was less interest among those who would be purchasing.

More people read books. Books about the beautiful hues of sunsets gone by; books about gold and sparkling jewels and gorgeous evening gowns. Would they make sense to those children being born into a world of all grays? Were they the final pleasures of a dying breed of the human race?

Lexy blinked. A small boy struggled up the hillside towards her. Probably her younger brother, but with his once-vibrant red hair turned gray, it grew harder to tell him apart from his schoolmates. Some of them had gotten wild haircuts so that they could be recognized. Is this how it’s going to be from now on? Can we not ever get the color back?

The preacher cried daily about how God was punishing them. That the smoke that had roiled across the sky for weeks was some mystical otherworldly beings doing, not a factory experiment gone wrong.

Removing regulations was never going to get us anywhere good. Companies aren’t human–they will always choose to screw us over in favor of profit.

What the AIs controlling the companies hadn’t expected was that firing all the experienced workers and hiring random kids who all spoke different languages would result in disastrous chemical combinations and leaks.

“I suppose we’re lucky we only lost colors and didn’t yet end up with acid water in our rivers.” Lexy muttered.

Brandon called out from below her perch, “Lexyyy! Dinner’s ready!” Lexy sighed. Something about colorless food made it seem more bland, no matter how much the Walmart family insisted they had done rapid testing to determine if taste had actually been affected. They claimed it hadn’t. Lexy knew it had.

How could it not? When all of their world had been affected? She hopped down from her rock and headed down towards her brother anyway. Their parents were worried enough–and he wasn’t allowed to climb this high up without someone next to him to catch him.

“Come on, squirt.” She said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Watch your step.”

“You sound like Mom.” he whined. “Did you see the sunset?”

“...Yeah.” Lexy said after a moment.

“Did it get better?”

“No.” Lexy sighed.

“Are we going to chase after it the way Tom’s parents did?”

“I don’t know.” Lexy ruffled his hair, guiding him down the winding trail stamped into the hillside by many generations of feet.

“If we do, will you come with us?”

Lexy stopped and turned to face him. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Brandon shrugged, hopping from one rock to another. “Mom said you would choose to stay with Grant.”

“Why–” Lexy sighed. “It’s not that serious.” Losing her boyfriend’s vivid green eyes and washing the gold tints out of his hair had made her realize a few things. She thought losing the red in her hair and the deeper colors in her eyes had affected him too. “I would go with you.” She slung an arm around his shoulders, pulling him against her side. “Have Mom and Grandpa been planning this?”

“Mom wants to find Dad.” Brandon admitted. “Grandpa offered to stay with you…but I know he wants to find Dad and the others too.”

Lexy’s heart twisted in her chest. “I’m ready whenever they are. We’ll all go together.”