The Colour Fall

No one talks about when the colour began to fall from the sky anymore. Its faded into the greying background of everyone's lives. By this point, it simply doesn’t matter. It happened, and there was nothing we could do about it. 

At first, people thought it was raining blood. They thought God had finally decided it was time to bring his creations back from their mortal flesh, to join him in heaven and send the sinners to hell.  

They were wrong.  

It wasn’t blood – but it wasn’t water, either. Instead, scientists discovered a new substance they dubbed "Colour".  

Those who thought it was blood weren't exactly wrong to believe it though, since the usually clear blueish drops that usually fell from the sky were suddenly a shockingly dark blood red.  

The impossible liquid pounded harshly, loud against every rooftop and window without end in sight. The dark clouds blocked out the shine of the sun, but somehow brought the warmth of summer into the bleak winter. There was no wind, and the clouds appeared to be stuck in place until they suddenly dissolved into thin air a week later when the mock-blood stopped dripping from the sky. 

During the week, governments across the world strongly advised against their citizens going outside and risking exposure to a possibly harmful chemical. Though, since humans are naturally curious and stupid creatures, most of them immediately disregarded this warning. Across the world videos of people standing outside, taking the risk, and getting soaked to the bone with blood red rain went viral. Others, a little more shy about the possibilities, simply set out jars to fill and marvel at later, taking pictures that were later posted to social media, joking about how they were too scared to risk touching it. 

There didn’t turn out to be much of a marvel, at first. The strange liquid was practically the same as water. Behaved the same, felt the same, looked the same – other than the red hue, anyways. It even tasted the same, though some people said it had a cherry flavour. Not even the brightest minds could find a single difference, nothing could explain the red hue of the liquid falling from the sky. 

Most were relieved when a week after it began, the colour stopped raining down. People stepped out of their homes for the first time in a week into the fresh, warm air that the colour had brought with it. It was practically T-shirt weather when it ended, but by the end of the day the wind had returned, blowing the sharp cold air of winter around in a rage at being banished by some silly rain.  

Online, others mourned the loss of the colour. They sent out their prayers online, making Tik Toks and YouTube videos about how the colour was a gift from mother nature, but more still retaliated, stating it was a punishment. They said mother nature was taking back the beauty she had gifted humans, that they had mistreated without a care. More and more people fell into the idea of devine punishment, especially when they realized their previously screamingly bright blood had turned to a dark, insignificant grey. 

Around the world, anything that had once been red faded to a dull, uninteresting and empty shade. Nothing was safe, not our blood, our hair, our art – it all turned into the same bleak shade of the clouds that had brought the fallen colour to us in the first place. The red bled out of our lives, the only remainder being what little was saved in the jars people had put out to catch the mysterious raindrops. Somehow, as humanity watched the first colour of the rainbow disappear from the earth, the colour that had bled from the sky stayed as vibrant as ever. 

We called it the Colour Fall. 

For two months, nothing happened. Life had gone back to be relatively normal, and most tried not to think about where all the red in the world had gone. The Colour Fall became a distant memory, unimportant in the face of real world problems that got in your face a little more than the lack of a silly colour would.  

On media, those who had a little of the mystery substance left from when it rained down tried all sorts of things with it. Some drank it, painted with it, or tried to dye clothing with it. Some sold it for thousands, and very few even injected it into their blood, hoping to bleed that beautiful ruby red one last time.  

But nothing happened. 

The colour simply did nothing. If it was painted with, it would dry into the same boring grey it had given us. It did not dye clothing, it did not change blood back to what it once was, and drinking it had no effect. The only thing it did do, was sell. 

Two months after the first Colour Fall, a second began. This time, people thought it was just the normal rain they had gotten used to seeing again during that two month break. But some more observant folks caught on to how that deep, dark blue seemed so much more vibrant than usual. 

Conspiracy videos raged across social media again. Some reinforced the idea of mother nature's divine punishment, saying it was her tears as humanity slowly but surely destroyed her. They said she was taking away the beauty she had gifted humanity with, angered with their recklessness. They yelled that the red from the first Colour Fall was her blood, falling down upon us as a warning that we had hurt her beyond redemption.  

Others argued that the blue falling from the sky was the tears of angels, blessing us with medicine hidden within the mysterious fluid. People across the globe began claiming that they drank the blue colour, and it had magically healed them from whatever ailment they were suffering from. The media began claiming that it made would make you skinnier, it would clear your skin and thickened your hair if it was used properly.  

Companies began monopolizing, utilizing the Colour Fall as a new way to make a quick buck. Fashion companies pumped out grey clothing of the future, accented with the bright colours that still remained in the world. The newest fad was grey, boring and everywhere. 

When the second Colour Fall stopped and the ocean dripped empty of its brilliant deep blue, people swam in their grey swimsuits, blending in perfectly to the water. Everyone became jealous of the deep, sparkling grey eyes that once upon a time were a brilliant blue, and the grey sky became the perfect backdrop for dramatic Instagram photos. 

There were few on the sidelines, maybe with the right idea but the wrong execution fighting against the grey. They raged protest in the streets, signs stating that the government was doing this to control us, that we had to stand our ground and fight against the dull existence being forced upon us. 

But protests couldn’t stop the Fall. Nothing could, it seemed. 

The green of the grass and trees went next, and people started forgetting their jealously over grey eyes as they became more and more common. Artists began spreading art they had made in the past, the eyesore of grey sitting scattered about. They protested quietly, most wise enough to realize that this wasn’t the work of any government or secret society. The artists showed their beautiful works, slowly becoming devoid of colour and meaning as they faded into the bleak grey background of nothingness. 

They thought it was punishment too. 

White went next. There were lots of dirty jokes during that Colour Fall, and the darkest humor of society came into play. Most turn a blind eye to that week. 

Yellow, orange, purple, brown, black... over the next year and a half, they all fell. No particular order, no particular reason. People tried to decipher what was happening, what the Colour Fall was, what the colours that fell were made of... but no one had the answer. Everyone asked, begged and pleaded for someone, anyone to solve the mystery, but no one did. The government sent out news articles, promising they were developing a way to bring colour back to the world, but everyone knew they were lying. And after 5 years, no one had hope. 

The people who captured enough of the different Colour Falls were set for life, and the once brilliant rainbow that anyone would excitedly point at was now nothing but another grey eyesore in the sky. In a cold bleak world, the only colour that remained was in those jars, sitting vibrant as ever with the goods it had stolen from our world. 

Eventually a full decade passed, and people adapted. No one really realized how much we had relied on the brilliance of colour to get through the day until our signs, surroundings, and bodies began to all look the same. There were accidents. Not a lot – we were quick to change, to pay more attention and rely on symbols and words more than bright flashy colours. But along with the dangers, there came expression. 

Slowly, fashion magazines introduced the idea of drawing intricate patterns all over oneself, in a last ditch effort to express personality and pride with only the simplicity of grey left. Large detailed tattoos became commonplace, though some dedicated artists treated their bodies as canvases, repainting them daily with beautiful artwork. 

Jewlery with colour in it sold for thousands to celebrities, and the odd well off citizen. They wore it proudly as a mark of wealth. Wedding rings, necklaces, bracelets... once, there was a big scandal where a popular singer wore a glass dress decorated with it, little drops falling beautifully off of her slender figure in little capsules. During the event she was attending, one of the capsules broke. The blue colour dripped to the ground without a sound, so small and insignificant. That drop alone was worth thousands of dollars, but she just laughed it off after a short gasp. Said she expected it to happen at least once, so she wasn’t that worried. 

But life moved on, as it always had. And now, we find ourselves at the final Colour Fall, 15 years after the first. 

Now this was an odd idea, considering there hadn't been a Colour Fall in forever, and then the fact that there was no colour left in the world to fall. 

Everyone thought that it was just a trick of the light, there was no way that the last thing we had left was falling from the sky. But as I set out a jar to add the last of the Colour Falls to my collection, I could see sure as day that all of humanities fears in that moment were confirmed in an instant. 

There in my little jar, sitting pretty, a solid dark grey liquid replaced the usually clear, lighter rain. 

The world began preparing for the end time. No one knew what would come next, and the media filled with extravagant, dramatic words nonsense. According to nearly everyone in the world, this was it. This was the end. We were all going to die. Mother nature, God, angels, the government – whoever the blame could be passed to. It jumped around like a hot potato, bouncing between countries and races, religions and world issues, falling everywhere except where I thought it truly belonged. 

Life. 

As everyone in the world panicked, trying to figure out what they had done to deserve something as cruel as this, stalking up on food and digging out bunkers to hide away in, I put my dog on his leash and walked outside into the street. I hummed a song as I strolled, no a care in the world as I ignored the curious looks that at me through the blinds of my neighbors houses. 

I don't claim to know what the colours are, or why the Colour Falls happened, but I wasn’t about to get in a big huff about it. They had never brought me any harm, and 15 years later it felt just as nice as it used to to bask in the warmth that cut through the cold winter wind.  

I don’t care if it’s a punishment, or something meant to heal. I don’t care if the Colour Fall stops in the middle of the night and I don’t wake up tomorrow, along with the rest of the world. And so what of the grey disappears, and we're all left living life blindly, with no way to see. Life will move on, as it always has. Maybe there was no decision behind the Colour Fall, no angered God or damaged nature. Maybe this was just what life had in store. And I, personally, wasn’t going to let that get in the way of my afternoon walks.