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The Day Colors Vanished

“When the World Turned Gray, Only Hearts Could Shine”

By Ihtisham UlhaqPublished 5 months ago 4 min read

1. The Morning of Silence

It happened without warning.

One morning, the sun rose over the city of Miran, but the light it spilled carried no warmth, no glow, no beauty. The sky was not blue. The flowers were not red. The trees were not green.

Everything—the streets, the faces, the skies—was suddenly gray.

At first, people thought it was an illusion. They rubbed their eyes, blinked, checked mirrors. But no matter where they looked, the world had become a lifeless sketch, as though someone had drained the planet with a giant eraser.

Children cried at their colorless toys. Painters screamed in horror. Lovers looked at each other and gasped—the spark that once shone in their eyes was gone.

The world had not lost its light. It had lost its soul.


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2. The Fear That Spread

News channels exploded. Scientists claimed a chemical imbalance in the atmosphere. Politicians blamed foreign enemies. Priests warned it was the wrath of heaven.

But behind the noise, people were breaking. Artists destroyed their canvases. Designers abandoned their work. Photographers burned their film. Teachers whispered that life had lost its lesson.

The world without color was not only ugly—it was unbearable.


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3. The Girl Who Noticed

In the middle of this storm lived a girl named Aaliya. She was twelve, curious, and carried a sketchbook everywhere. Unlike others, she didn’t panic that morning. She stared. She studied.

And she saw something strange.

When her little brother laughed nervously, his outline flickered faint pink. When her mother hugged her tightly, warmth glowed around her in shades of orange. When a man shouted angrily at the sky, a jagged burst of black smoke pulsed from him.

Colors weren’t gone. They had moved.

They no longer lived in objects. They lived in emotions.

But no one else could see it.


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4. The Sketch of Hope

That night, Aaliya filled her sketchbook with what she saw: the soft blue of her father’s sorrow, the green flicker of her neighbor’s kindness, the golden shimmer of her own curiosity.

Her drawings looked gray to others, but she knew what they meant. And the more she sketched, the more certain she became:

If the world wanted its colors back, it would need to feel again.


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5. The First Experiment

The next day, Aaliya gathered children from her building and took them to the rooftop. She gave them broken chalk pieces.

“Draw your happiest memory,” she told them.

The children frowned. “But there’s no color.”

“Close your eyes,” Aaliya said softly. “Remember the laughter, the hug, the warmth. Feel it first. Then move your hand.”

One boy scribbled wildly, remembering the day he rode a bike. A girl carefully traced circles, remembering her grandmother’s lullaby.

The chalk was gray, but Aaliya gasped—colors exploded around them. Pink swirls, golden sparks, blue ripples. She saw joy returning, alive and glowing.

The children couldn’t see it, but they could feel it. They laughed, they hugged, they played. For the first time since the vanishing, the rooftop glowed with life.


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6. Spreading the Spark

The next morning, Aaliya stood in the town square with a small drum. People walked by, dull and heavy, their faces blank. She began to play—softly at first, then louder, with rhythm and joy.

At first, no one cared. But then an old man stopped. He tapped his foot. A yellow glow flickered around him. A woman clapped, and green sparks rose. A child giggled, sending pink ripples into the gray air.

The marketplace shimmered faintly.

Word spread quickly: “There is a girl who brings colors back.”


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7. Doubt and Resistance

Not everyone welcomed her.

Leaders accused her of trickery. Scientists said she was spreading false hope. Preachers warned she was playing with forbidden powers.

“Stop filling people with illusions,” an officer barked as he dragged her away from a crowd.

But people noticed something undeniable: the officer’s anger was heavy and black, while Aaliya’s defiance glowed like sunlight.

Whispers spread: “Maybe she is right. Maybe colors live inside us now.”


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8. The Awakening

Aaliya did not stop. She told stories to children. She asked lonely people about their dreams. She sang in the streets. And every time someone opened their heart, colors burst around them.

She discovered something powerful:

Joy glowed orange.

Compassion shimmered silver.

Grief pulsed deep blue.

Courage blazed red.

Forgiveness glowed soft lavender.


The city was learning again—to feel was to see.


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9. The Festival of Gray

Months later, Miran announced its annual festival. But how could a festival be joyful without fireworks, without flowers, without light?

Crowds gathered in the dull square. No decorations, no music, no laughter. Just silence.

Then Aaliya stepped forward. She climbed the fountain and raised her voice.

“Look around you. This world is not empty. It is waiting. Color doesn’t live in the sky or the ground—it lives in your hearts. Feel it. Share it. Let it rise.”

She began to sing.

Not a perfect song, not a rehearsed one, but a raw melody of hope. Children joined her. Parents followed. Strangers held hands. Some cried, some laughed, some shouted.

And then—

The square exploded.

Waves of crimson, gold, green, silver, blue rose into the sky like invisible fireworks. The crowd gasped, not with their eyes but with their souls. For the first time in months, the city of Miran truly breathed.


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10. A World Reborn

The colors never returned to objects. The grass stayed gray, the skies remained pale. But no one cared anymore.

They had discovered something greater: real colors were never outside—they were always inside.

Aaliya grew older, but her name became legend. Schools began teaching empathy alongside science. Artists painted emotions instead of surfaces. Leaders were judged not by promises, but by the colors they carried.

The city once broken by despair became the most vibrant place in the world.

And whenever anyone forgot, whenever life felt dull again, they remembered the story of a girl who stared into the gray and refused to believe it was empty.


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11. The Whisper That Spread

Travelers carried the story far beyond Miran. Some laughed at it. Some dismissed it. But those who visited always returned with the same whisper:

“The city still looks gray… but when you walk among them, when you cry and laugh with them, when you really live—you see colors brighter than rainbows.”

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About the Creator

Ihtisham Ulhaq

“I turn life’s struggles into stories and choices into lessons—writing to inspire, motivate, and remind you that every decision shapes destiny.”

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