"Red!" he exclaimed, holding up an apple like it was the world's greatest prize.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I said, laughing.

"And green, and brown, and blue! Look at them!" Charlie, despite being early-twenties, pointed at my shoes, then the tree trunks, then the sky, listing their colors. He had the biggest smile on his face.

My eyes followed his finger to the things he pointed at, and I fought to keep the smile on my face.

"Right, yeah, I see," I said, trying to match his enthusiasm. I came nowhere close, but he didn't notice. He was examining his shirt sleeve.

"But are they what you expected? The colors? I mean, I never would have imagined! People told me this shirt was red, but it's really red. How would you describe it?" He still had an incredulous smile and his eyes sparked with life.

I stared at the greyness of his shirt as if it fascinated me. "Um, I don't know," I said. "But it's red alright!" I said.

Charlie kept on chatting, and I kept on pretending I saw something other than the grey park.

- - - That Morning - - -

I was finishing up a math assignment, but I couldn't focus for long enough to finish it. I liked to come to the little coffee shop on campus to do homework and people watch. Well, mostly people watch. And there was one game in particular that I found myself playing far too often.

First, I'd stare at the whiteness of my notebook, the blackness of the pen ink, the greyness of the tables that I knew were really green. Then, I'd look up and scan the room, and wait for the colors to appear.

They never did.

Like everyone always says, they won't come until you see your soul mate. But I have this sinking feeling that I don't have one.

I glanced around: a girl was bent over her sketchbook next to me, a barista was making the order for a light-haired boy, a group of three sat in the corner laughing. And there was one other person. A boy, a cute one.

He was just as grey as everyone else, but there was something about him. He hadn't looked up from his coffee yet; he was blowing into it with single-minded focus. Maybe I had to look him in the eyes. Maybe that would do it.

So, when he finally looked up and his eyes scanned the room, I was ready. And I saw the way his face lit up in surprise and excitement, and I was looking right back at him. So, I smiled.

And then I realized what I'd done, and the chance I had. I ran over to the boy before the girl with the sketchbook had the chance to look up.

- - - One Month Later - - -

"Open it!" Charlie bounced from foot to foot, waiting for me to unwrap the gift.

I laughed and reached into the bag, pulling out a long scarf. "Oooo, soft," I said, grinning. I wondered distantly what color it was. "Thank you!"

I looped it around my neck, and Charlie smiled and took my hand. "It looks great on you," he said.

I looked down at myself. The light grey of my jacket and the darker grey of the scarf. Was it blue? "Yeah!" I agreed.

We resumed walking the path through campus. It was the same path we always took, past the coffee shop.

But something different happened this time.

A boy was rushing by, his hair disheveled and his glasses slightly askew. And I saw the light brown of his hair and the flushed pink on his cheeks and the deep green of his sweater.

"Are you ok?" Charlie asked. I didn't realized I'd stopped walking. The sky was so... blue and the tree leaves were orange and red and brown and delightful. And the boy rushing by was past us. He hadn't even seen us.

"Kid really had to get to class, huh," laughed Charlie, following my gaze.

I let out a sharp laugh. "Yeah," I said, then took a step forward. I let Charlie lead me, and we kept on walking. I looked down at myself, and I saw it. The scarf was red.

“That’s why, due to the chemical imbalance of oxytocin to vasopressin hormones in your brain, your occipital lobe can’t process color until you meet your soulmate.” Ms. Anderson whipped out a bag of Cheetos and stuffed them in her mouth. “So all you loveless suckers may never get to see color, like meeeee!” She wailed.

I slammed my hands on my desk. “Ms. Anderson that’s bullshit! The world is in color and has always been in color!”

The entire class turned and stared at me. “Mindy, are you okay?”

“Did you get enough sleep last night?”

“Are you high?”

“Yes. No. A little bit.” I answered all the questions. “But I know I’m right about this.”

“Mindy!” Ms. Anderson bellowed. “You can’t be high in my class!”

“And you can’t be drunk, but I think we all know that’s not coffee in your mug.”

“Mindy, do you really see colors?” Owen asked.

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “Since the moment I was born.”

“Then you must have met your soulmate when you were born.” Chris reasoned.

Lindsey whistled. “Damn, Mindy. I admire your taste in older men. I’m sure that doctor that delivered you must be pretty hot if he’s able to snag a young thing like you.”

“No, Lindsey. He’s obviously one of the other babies born at the same time as her. They must have seen each other in the NICU or something.”

“Girl, you gotta find your man!”

“Run, Mindy. Run straight to that hospital and find your Mr. Right!”

I leapt from my seat. “I will!”

Out of breath, I arrived at the Saint John’s hospital. “I’m looking for…” I took in a gulp of air. “The birth records from April 6th, 2002 and which babies were sent to the NICU.”

“We’re really not suppose to give out information like that. Patient confidentiality. Especially not to minors.” The nurse declared.

“Please,” I begged. “It’s for love! I think my soulmate might have been born then.”

“Oh, well why didn’t you say that sooner, sweetie? You get a free pass for the laws of this country just because you ‘think’ one of those people ‘might’ be your soulmate.”

“Really?” I asked with beaming eyes.

“No. Now beat it, you sweaty gremlin. I have a job to do and that doesn’t include babysitting you.”

When the nurse stormed off, I noticed a pair of interns behind her that were closely monitoring the scene. After she left, one of them approached me. “Hey kid.”

I held up a hand to stop him. Crime-time TV had warned me about this.

“I’m not interested in buying whatever leftover illegal drugs you guys have here.”

“This is a hospital. All the drugs are legal.”

“Most of them at least.” The other intern called from behind.

“Lisa! Not now! Listen, that’s not what I came to tell you. I heard all that stuff you were saying about love. I think that’s really sweet.” He said.

“So you’ll give me the files.”

“I can’t.”

“Dammit,” I read his nametag. “Patrick, why are you wasting my time? I have a heist to plan!”

He chuckled. “I mean I can’t because that girl over there is already reading them.” He winked at me. “Good luck, tiger.”

I strolled over to the girl hiddened by a pile of files. She was too busy muttering to herself to notice me. “Come on, where’s the beef?”

“Excuse me. I hate to interrupt your mad ramblings to yourself, but can I sneak a peek at those files?”

“Sure.”

“How’d you get them anyway?”

“My father owns the hospital.”

“Makes sense.” I plotted down beside them. “Whatcha looking for?”

“I think my soulmate was born then.”

“Damn, same.”

She looked up. “Really? You know what that means?”

“That we’re soul sisters destined to be best friends and have double weddings?!”

I high fived her. “Hell, yeah. Let’s find our soulmates together!”

In the background, the intern face palmed. “Oh my god, Lisa, it’s happening again!” Patrick turned to her. “Lisa. Lisa. Lisa. Lisa. Lisa. Lisa, stop doing paperwork and listen to me!”

“What Patrick?!” She exclaimed.

“It’s happening again!”

“What? You acting like a child?”

“Nooooo. They don’t realize they’re soulmates!”

“Just give them some time they’ll figure it out like that last couple.”

“Alright, I have a plan!” Patrick declared.

“Patrick, no.”

“We just need them to realize how much they have in common.”

“Don’t say we.”

“We need a conversation starter!”

“Patrick, please don’t.”

“Hey! Nice shirt!” Patrick shouted, before ducking under the counter with Lisa.

Lisa glared at him. “Don’t worry.” Patrick reassured. “It worked out last time.”

She punched his arm and teased with a grin on her face. “Just barely.”

Confused, I glanced around. “Who said that?”

“I’m not sure.” Julie replied, but she smiled. “That is a cool shirt though. I love the Beatles.”

I peered down at my outfit. It was a vintage Beatles band T-shirt. “Oh, yeah. I guess my favorite song would have to be—”

“Help?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“No, I was asking for help. This folder is stuck under a box.”

“Oh.”

“But, ‘Help’ is my favorite song too.” She beamed.

I felt a slight blush rush to my cheeks. I knew noticed this before, but Julie was really pretty. She had two big almond eyes and a smile that filled my heart with warmth. Slowly, I helped lift the box off the folder.

“Here it is. All the babies in the NICU on April 6th, 2002.” She flipped it open. “There’s only two names.” Julie whispered. “Every other baby born must have been healthy enough to stay with their mothers.”

“Julie Rogers and Mindy Manson. That’s us.” I echoed.

I turned to Julie. “Hey, you maybe wanna get out of here and grab a cup of coffee or something?”

She smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Oh! Bam!” Patrick celebrated in a hushed voice under the counter. “Love triumphs just like last time!”

“You still remember the day those two crazy kids met?”

“I remember you got a job as an intern just to sneak a look at the birth records from June 18th 1994.”

“You did the same thing!”

“Yeah,” Patrick smirked and kissed her. “We were pretty crazy, weren’t we?”

One foot after the other. Clud-clump, clud-clump, clud-clump. She could feel her heart beating on her ribcage, could hear it in her ears. It was a dull, but an ever-present reminder not to push herself beyond her limits. She slowed her sprint down to a jog and whooped in a breath of air. It tasted of saltwater and the redwoods that lined the coast— hah, “red” woods. How could she really know what the redwoods looked like? Funny name. Turning, she glanced out at the mouth of the bay. Gray sky. Dark, slate-colored clouds. The seafoam was frothy gray-ish white. The waves were a rolling midnight black. The sand looked more like ash. Everything gray. Everything lackluster. All her life she had heard the stories of color. And yet, she had never been able to see them herself.

Her feet finally came to a halt and she rested on a bench on the cliffside, overlooking the shore and the somber openness of the sea. Her eyes squeezed shut in frustration. As a little girl, she’d blink tight and hope that when her lids lifted again, her eyes would change, and the world would come alive.

“I love you, mommy, isn’t that enough?” and her mother would chuckle.

“It’s a different kind of love, my dear, that will bring color to your eyes— and to your heart. You’ll see.”

Her mother had described the different colors to her as best she could. And, eventually, she was able to decipher which shades of gray matter were which “color”. Her mother would smile and tell stories to lull her to sleep at night, remembering the first time the world came aglow.

“I met your father at my senior prom. I went alone. I didn’t have a date, I just went with my girlfriends. We all had a time picking out our dresses. Jennine could already see. She was the only one of us that could already see. She was so critical about which dresses looked good on all of us. We didn’t really care, though, most of us couldn’t see yet. But that all changed that night, for me.

I entered the gym. There were balloons that covered the view of the ceiling. Streamers were stretched across the lights that hung high above the basketball nets. They really jazzed the place up… but I had no idea how beautiful it looked until I locked eyes with your father.

The first thing I noticed were his eyes. His eyes changed. They bloomed into a beautiful blue.. like yours.” The little girl turned to look at herself in her bedroom mirror.

Gray. Nothing but gray.

“His eyes came alive and before I knew it, colors were appearing all around me. The lights, all of the dresses and suits surrounding us, the floor… I looked down at my hands and for the first time, was able to see what my skin looked like. What I looked like. I looked down at my dress, and—” she began to laugh. “—Ah. I hated it. I thought it was such an ugly shade of green. Now that I could see it, anyway. And your father. I thought he was handsome before. But he came alive with color. My world was changed forever.”

The roar of the ocean as it spun and crashed onto the ash pulled her back from her thoughts. She concentrated with all of her might, and her eyes fluttered open.

Gray.

She heaved a sigh. For a long time, what she had feared most in her life was how long. How long it would take to see. How long it would take to find her person. But as she got older, her fear changed to: what if I never do?

Sure, she wasn’t the only one in the world that felt this way, but that didn’t help. It was unfair. It was unjust. It was completely and utterly arbitrary for a person to not know the color of the sky they looked up at every day, or what shades of green blanketed the trees that lined their street, or how their friends or loved ones actually truly looked… or, the color of their own god damned eyes.

What if they aren’t out there? What if I’m destined to be blind forever? What kind of a life is that?

Her eyes sunk down to look at her feet, and for half a second, her thoughts came to an abrupt and sudden halt. It seemed the world had stopped as well. It paused for just a moment— she nearly choked on the breath in her throat. The shrubs by the bench began to change.

They morphed from a slate-gray to a dark green (at least, she thought.. she was told all her life plants were green… is this what green looks like?). And the color spread to the dirt underneath her feet. This was a rich brown. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wanted to will them away, for they might blur her vision of the change. But she could not stop. Is this really happening?

The colors spread across the cliff where she stood. It reminded her of when ink met water. Or when you would dip your paintbrush in a cup of water to clean it.. the colors bloomed outwards until they were blanketing everything in her view. The ocean was more beautiful than she could have ever imagined. A dark, swirling blue. Crimson flowers on shrubs that lined the trail. She touched one of the petals with her thumb and forefinger. It seemed crazy, but she believed it even felt different now. The sky, though cloudy, seemed to glow with life. It was gray.. but it was not the same, lifeless gray that she had seen for twenty-three years. The world had shifted on its axis. She stifled a cry and cupped her mouth with her hand. If this was real, and not a dream, then where was…

She didn’t register the sound of feet plunking through the dirt on the walking trail. A young man, just as in awe as she, had been chasing the colors as it bled a path up the cliffside. His eyes finally rested on her.

“Do you see it, too?” he breathed.

She spun on her heels to face him. Tears brimmed her eyes. She looked at her hands, her feet, the ground between them, and then her eyes finally found his. They, too, were what she thought was “blue”.

~E.G.

A quick blarb for this challenge, as she is finally meeting her "soulmate" and seeing color for the first time. I feel there is more to be told here, a different time maybe.

elizabethgreen ™

#color #colorblind #soulmate #challenge #seeingcolor #love

My whole world was a black and white blur

But on that bitterly cold mid-afternoon moment in late October

the first frosty winds of winter blowing against my back

As I walked along the stony English beach

listening to the sound of the inky black ocean

break against the sharp rocks and crash against the grey shaded shore

He was walking close to the cliffside

Then we both stopped

and our eyes locked

then he smiled at me sweetly

and suddenly I felt like I knew the real meaning of love

I felt that my entire life had to lead up to this moment the coldness I felt all over me melted away

And slowly colour began to filter in through the black and white

it began with his eyes

they changed from a white to a light blue

A vibrant, happy and lively blue

Then his lips became a perfect smooth blood red

Then his hair turned from grey to sandy blonde

And when we touched hands

the entire world became filled with light and colour

It's like he made me whole

He completed me and me him

I’m sitting at my tiny desk in my tiny cubicle and trying not to lose what’s last of my mind. I’ve been at work for a total of 30 minutes, and it already feels like hours. To make matters worse, a rogue food craving means I’ve already eaten my lunch for the day. So, I’m going to have to use all my spare change to eat from the vending machines, again. My doctor has been on my case about not getting enough nutrition, so what is the stupid prenatal vitamin for? Wouldn’t it be better to just eat what I can instead of starving to death? I place my hand on my swollen abdomen, and hate myself for thinking, yet again, about how much I wish I wasn’t pregnant.

The father of the kid was some old buddy from college. We had had a minor fling, but neither of us saw any colors like you’re supposed to. We had met up at a New Years party, both of us got a little to easy with the drinks, and Boom! Here we are seven months later, and he’s nowhere to be seen. Pbbt! Typical of my life. I’m almost thirty, never had a serious relationship, and now I’m going to have to be a single mother to a kid I never even wanted. I don’t have the heart to put the kid up for adoption or... other means... so, I guess I’m stuck with my mistake.

As I’m working, I feel another hard kick around my pelvic area. I take deep breaths to settle myself. The kid’s been roiling around more than usual in the past few weeks. The doctor said it’s fine, but I don’t think kicks are supposed to hurt this much. I start to get back to work when another massive kick sends painful pins and needles down my legs. I cry out and double over. This is a strong kid. Both my hands instinctually go to my belly and start patting, as if trying to mentally communicate calmness. My breathing had barely settled when a huge cramp shot through my abdomen and tensed all of my muscles.

No... No! It’s too early! The doctor said I wasn’t due for another 10 weeks! I can’t be having contractions right now! Another wave of pain sends me doubling over as I look into my soaked skirt and wet carpet beneath me. Someone rushes over and grips my shoulder, asking if I’m alright. My look of terror must have been clue enough, because they immediately called 911 for an ambulance. One of my coworkers, an elderly woman, helps me start my breathing, gripping my hand tight. She’s done this four times before, she says. Everything will be alright. I cling to the strength and calm she’s offering me like a life raft in a hurricane.

The ambulance ride was terrifying. Tears streamed down my eyes as the pain increased more and more. The EMTs ask me questions. So many questions. When am I due? Do I have family who needs to be here? Who’s my doctor? Have I injested any drugs? Have I had a fall recently? What medicines am I on? On and on the questions went, and all I cared about in that moment was to make the pain stop.

Screaming, I was wheeled into the maternity ward. Doctors and nurses swarmed around me. All of them strangers, touching my body and cramping belly. I hated them all for touching me. I wanted to scream at them to get away from me and my child. We weren't ready yet. But the baby came. She came just the same.

One moment I was in agony, begging to be released from the pain, and then I looked up into her tiny face. My world exploded into a glorious rainbow of color. The tiny creature screaming her lungs out was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and the world around me danced with light and fireworks of bright colors. I didn’t care about the pain anymore. I tried to hold out my shaking arms for her, but the nurses said something about her breathing. She was turning blue, and the colors had started to fade. They wheeled her away in a tiny bed, and I was left screaming for her.

All night I laid in the bed, curled up on my side. Little streams of color would sometimes stream across my vision, but they only served to fuel my sadness. This entire time, I had resented the child inside me, but it turns out she was the love of my life. She was my soulmate, and she may not live long enough to be given a name. I buried my face in my pillow and cried.

There was a soft knock at my door, and I managed to wipe my face as a nurse came in. She smiled broadly at me, “She’s stable and doing well. If she pulls through tonight, it’s a great chance she’ll be ok.” I slump over with a heaving breath, and the nurse rushed to my side, rubbing my shoulders, “Do you want to go see her?” I nodded eagerly, and the nurse helped me into a wheelchair.

The nurse wheeled me into the NICU. I knew immediately which tiny baby was mine, because the colors began to glow bright and beautiful again when I saw her. She was hooked up with IVs and sensors, so the nurse had to gingerly lift her from the cot and place her in my arms. All I could do was stare at the teeny baby, the colors calming into place as I looked at her in all her glory. I don’t know for how long I stayed there, but I never wanted to let her go. The nurse knelt beside me, smiling brightly, “What’s her name?” My eyes never left my daughter, “Amy. It means ’love of my life.”

When I saw him for the first time, the world began to change.

I was sitting alone in the library, studying late thursday night for my exam, when he walked in. I glanced up. He had a tall figure and wide smile, but most striking were his eyes. They weren't gray like everyone else's. Then I noticed the rest of the room begin to turn; black, white, and gray becoming richer, vibrant colors.

I gasped and whispered, "It's so beautiful."

What is?" he asked, giving me a weird look and laughing.

"The world. All the colors. Can't you see them?"

"It still looks the same to me."

The world changed for me, but it didn't for him.

I’ve been told by my parents that when a person met their soulmate, colors come into the world. But, I don’t think I’d be able to tell. I was born mostly blind, not really a fun way to live your early years. As a young girl I took to wearing a bandana over my eyes, it’ll freak people out less if I’m accidently staring at school.

I distinctly remember in kindergarten after I explained my disablity another girl ran up to me, holding me tightly in a hug. Apologizing...

“I’m so, so sorry,” she cried into my shoulder.

Obviously, I was confused. She had no reason to apologize, it wasn’t her fault in the slightest.

“I promise! I promise that one day you will see the world,” she swore, my face was hot. This was needlessly embarassing and infront of the whole class too. I pushed her off me gently, she seems to have caught on that people were watching us.

She went through with her promise, becoming an optomistrist, putting me through screenings for eye surgery. It was finally the day, it would be done. After my surgery she drove me to our apartment. I could hear her raiding the fridge for food. Weird time to be eating but alright.

As it turns out she was raiding the fridge to make food for me. She even tired feeding me, obviously I didn't need help. I've been eat blind my entire life, but she insisted. But when she sets her mind to something, there's not stopping her.

Weeks have passed and my eyes are finally healed enough to see. Clair took her time unwrapping my bandages, probably giving me time to adjust to light. Even before my eyes opened, I saw something. It kinda stung, pretty god damn bright.

"O... Okay, you can open your eyes now," Clair hummed.

I nodded looking to the world. It's not just bright and dark, there's shapes and colors... Colors!

"Clair! I think I'm seeing colors," I announced with a smile wide on my face.

"I had a feeling you might, love," Clair giggled.

"Thank you," I took her in a hug, now I could finally see that she's a little shorter than myself. I release the embrace, she runs her fingers through her hair, shoving it behind her ears. I can finally see her eyes...

Gorgeous.

I think my favorite color is her eyes.

I know the story, everyone knows the story. Life is all black and white until you meet your soulmate then and only then do you get to see color. I never really understood what people were describing, after all I have no context, I do think that it sounds pretty great though. I decided young that I was going to seek them out, that person who would bring color and beauty to my life. That is why I attend every social event, weaving in and out among the crowd hoping, praying that our shoulders brush.

Tonight is different, I knew it the minute I walked into the concert. I could see just a slight difference in my vision. Something new, I'd never seen but instantly understood, color. The colors get more vibrant the closer I get to the one called my soul mate. I track them down, they're in a group about my age. One is staring around confused I smile at the realization the color had hit while they were drunk. I run to their side and grab their hand. I heard it makes the colors come faster if there is physical contact. It hits me like a brick, so beautiful I nearly burst into tears. I drop the hand I hold and run away before anyone realizes. I've got color now, just like I always wanted.

Everything was gray. And it was fine. But then, they came into my life. And I somehow knew that I loved them because now the grass and trees were red and the ocean and sky were yellow. Meeting them turned my whole world upside down. And now, it was so much better than just fine. Seeing the world in this perspective, as if my home was some alien planet, bewildered me. They bewildered me. But, they told me their world was still gray. I was not my soul mate's soul mate. There was another out there for them. But that was ok. Because they brought color and joy to my life. Even if the colors I saw were wrong. Even if they were broken. I was somehow miserably unmiserable.