World in Monochrome

Sounds of a woman’s screams filled the sterile white room. A woman in labor. A woman with pure red skin. After one final wail, she gave birth to a baby with skin in shades of grey. The newborn was silent, deathly silent, barely breathing. The nurse quickly pulled up a familiar silver briefcase, and from within, she took a heart-shaped locket. A locket that everyone else in the room was wearing. She put it around the baby’s neck, it glowed red, and within seconds the baby was a bright shade of red, howling out the sounds of life, breathing rapidly. The nurse gently handed the baby back to the mother, and she began making noises and speaking gently to the newborn, trying to calm it. Eventually, the baby was quiet again, but the tension in the room was now gone, replaced by happiness and smiles. The slightly washed-out red of the mother’s skin became bright red, much like the baby’s, and she cried tears of joy. The father who had been standing nearby came over to kiss his wife and see his new daughter. The father’s skin began to brighten as well.

The following afternoon the family checked out of the hospital—mother in a wheelchair holding the baby while the father pushed her home. The greyscale world they walked through on their way home was dotted with people and objects in shades of red. Others with red skin greeted and congratulated the new family while ignoring all others in shades of gray like they usually did. Those with colors of Green and Blue around them were almost literally invisible to the Red people.

While passing over a bridge on their way home, one man caught the father’s eye. He was standing looking out over the river below them; color completely drained from him. The nearly pure white man stood in intense contemplation. The only noticeable color left was that of his bloodshot eyes—red from tears. The father stopped for a moment and looked over at the man who hadn’t seemed to notice him. Only intending to leave his family for a moment to check on the man, he started to walk over, but before the father could reach him, the man began to climb the railing. The father caught on quickly to what the man was going to do and lunged out to catch him. As the man fell over the barrier, the father reached out, pulling the man back over the edge by anything he could grab. The father felt something warm and metallic, but before he could realize what it was, he had pulled the man back onto the bridge. He let go of the man and the man’s heart-shaped locket. As the man slumped to the ground, mixed shades of green and red filled his vision. The grass on the nearby shore, the man’s irises and skin, some nearby buildings, and the paint on the metal railing all became shades of green. All went from shades of grey to shades of green mixed with the red that he had always been able to see. The now green man that the father had saved had some of his color restored by his kindness. He looked around, eyes slightly moistened by tears, and marveled at the new world around him.

The family shared this newfound gift worldwide within the days, weeks, and months following this discovery. Despite the protest and propaganda of the regional governments. People who had once ignored those around them instead shared their colors. While some stuck to the old way out of choice, eventually, everyone could see all shades of color: Red, Green, Blue, and every color in between. The world was still filled with those bruised and broken down by life, Shades hanging over them. Life is still far from perfect, but in every color, people have shined brightly. Each person is a tapestry of scars, and each is a work of art finding the beauty in what they have ignored—one day at a time. The people of the world, like shattered glass, eventually became a part of a mosaic.