Just Bring Us A Rainbow

September 22, 2033 was the day that the event that came to be known as “The Fade” took place. No one from the government, scientific or academic communities could provide any explanation for it. Over the course of just a few hours that day, all of the colors - all but black and white anyway - simply faded away from this world. That was also the last day that it rained.

There were many questions:

Why is this happening?

How could this possibly occur?

Is this permanent?

What do I tell my children?

There was much speculation in response:

This is an unpredictable effect of climate change!

We are just living in a simulation. None of this is real!

This is a punishment from God!

Solar flares!

No one really had any good explanation for it. It just happened. That was the only fact.

When I was a kid, I liked to watch all of those old episodes of The Twilight Zone, shot in black and white. That’s not exactly what the world looked like, but it’s pretty close. It was so strange to watch the evening news on my wall-mounted QLED TV ($2700 at Best Buy) and everything looks kind of like The Twilight Zone. I keep looking for Rod Serling smoking a cigarette in the corner of my living room. Maybe he could explain all of this. He always seemed to know what was going on, and this was certainly his general area of expertise.

Other strange occurrences began very quickly.

Most things in this world just assumed a black and white aspect. However, certain creatures, particularly colorful creatures, simply disappeared. People checked their bird cages and fish tanks in the morning and found that their exotic parrots and tropical fish were simply gone. Peacocks and toucans and many colorful varieties of reptiles found on the islands of the South Pacific as well. It was reported that Bengal tigers were no longer seen in Southeast Asia. The flamingos just disappeared from their wetlands around the world all at once.

“I just don’t know what to think, but it feels like something really bad is coming.”

“I don’t know what to think either, so I have no predictions,” I replied. I stared into Amy’s eyes, which were once bright green. We dated for a short time, but it just didn’t work out. We remained friends afterwards though, and we still get together at the local cafe sometimes. She lives just a few blocks away. I watched her pour a bit of white cream into her black coffee but as soon as she stirred it up it all just turned black again. I briefly wondered how much cream would be required to turn it mocha, but I knew that black and white were the only colors now.

“When do you think the water is going to run out? They say that rationing is going to begin in the next week or two. Food as well. Everyone is stockpiling now.”

I patted her gently on the backside of her left hand.

“Amy, I don’t think anyone knows what the future holds. There’s a lot of talk but not a lot of facts. I am just trying to live in the moment and remain hopeful. You should too.”

She used a black napkin - one that used to be dark red - to dab the tears from her eyes, then she just stared down into her coffee cup.

“Jason, it hasn’t rained for over four months now. Not anywhere. Nowhere in the world. How long can this go on?”

I patted her gently on the backside of her left hand again, but this time I just nodded my head and offered a thin smile.

"Someday we'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun. Someday when the world is much brighter." Lyrics from her favorite song. I hoped it would cheer her up a bit, but I don't think it had any effect. I was worried about her. What she might do.

She was right. Clean water was rapidly being depleted everywhere and, obviously, without water the food supply would not last must longer. The writing was on the wall, and it was not very difficult to read. The drumbeat of war was starting to pound all over the world. The Haves and the Have-Nots would be fighting it out over resources very soon, but I didn’t want to bring this up. I didn’t want to increase Amy’s sense of dread and desperation. Whatever was going to happen would happen, and we would all know soon enough. Speculation seemed pointless.

The waiter dropped our check on the table and I dropped my credit card. (Fuck it. If the end of the world was coming, let American Express pick up the bill for this.) I come here all the time. The checks were always light blue, but I’m starting to forget what the color blue looks like in this black and white world.

For the next few weeks, things grew increasingly desperate. The news reports on TV were undeniably disturbing, and the facial expressions and verbal tones of the newscasters who delivered them even more so. Street crime was escalating. The supermarkets had barren shelves. Looting was rampant. Martial law would soon be in effect. National Guard troops were being called up but there were many deserters. It was clear that we were reaching the “Every Man for Himself” stage.

I went to sleep on a Saturday night and when I awoke the next morning there was rain falling outside. It was coming down hard and continued to do so for most of the day. About an hour before sunset the clouds began to clear and a massive rainbow, far bigger than any that I have ever seen in my life, rose up and over the entire city and all of the colors suddenly came back into the world all at once. My heart swelled and I called Amy to see if she wanted to meet up for a cup of coffee or some Chinese food or whatever. I didn’t care where. I just wanted to see her smile again.

It was impossible not to hear the riotous cheers and shouts and clapping and car horns blasting and the loud music and fireworks coming from every direction, from every neighborhood. From everyone. It was finally over. 

There was never any definitive explanation. It was just the end of it, and that was all that mattered. The entire spectrum of colors somehow returned to our world all at once and the rains had returned with it, along with all of the wonderfully colorful creatures as well. I finished off my dinner and smiled after I wiped my lips with the dark red napkin. I couldn’t ban the slight grin from my face as I stared into Amy’s bright green eyes that evening. When the waiter dropped the check, it was light blue.

I remember blue now, and the world is much brighter.

THE END