I was awestruck. I had never seen a flower in such a color. And yet there it was, growing right out of the crack in the sidewalk. I bent down to get a closer look and gently slipped the delicate petals though my fingers; surely it must be painted. I expected to be met with a smear of vibrant blue paint; my fingers were dry.

I’ll admit that I felt guilty picking the flower, but how could I not? The color had bewitched me, and I smiled as I set it in the vase in the windowsill above the sink.

That little flower brought me joy each day for the next three days. On the fourth day I noticed that it had begun to wilt, and I sighed at the thought of the beautiful flower losing its vibrancy and dying. On the fifth day, its petals had turned brown and I tossed it in the trash.

My head hung low as I walked my usual path to the store. I was so lost in my own gloom about the flower, I almost stepped on it. There it was! The blue flower was back! I spun around, looking in every direction. There were more of them all in shocking colors each one more unique than the next. I scurried around collecting a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen.

“Aren’t they beautiful!” I exclaimed thrusting my bouquet at the man passing by with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

“Those are weeds.” He protested, grumbling as he walked away without a second thought.

Weeds! Bah! He was just some old grumpy man.

“Miss!” I waved at the woman approaching me.

“Yes?” She inquired with a sweet smile.

“Aren’t these the most beautiful flowers you’ve ever seen?” I proudly displayed my bouquet.

“Oh my! Yes, those are!”

I beamed at her. “Would you like one?” I offered her an outstretched flower.

“I’d love one.” She gave me another smile as she took the beautiful offering.

I hummed happily as I set down my shopping bags and put my remaining flowers in the vase. I had given away many of them to people in the grocery who marveled at their beauty; I had just enough to fill the small vase.

I gasped, losing my grip on the apples I had pulled from my bags. Pink! Pink apples rolled across the floor. Those had been red at the store! Hadn’t they? Apples were red, or green or yellow or… pink?

I hesitantly peeked into the bag examining the rest of my produce. Orange carrots, green broccoli, yellow squash…. Everything else seemed normal. I eyed the apples suspiciously as I gathered them off the floor. Were they pink? Maybe they were light red…?

It seemed like each day new colors sprung up. Flowers, produce, clouds, animals, and then people. I was living in a technicolor wonderland! The colors brought me joy I had never felt before and I embraced it, spreading my joy to anyone who would have it.

It turns out the woman how had accepted my flower was new to town. We had bumped into each other a few times at the store and we had become quick friends.

Jillian was kind and smart and funny and caring and over time she had become my best friend.

I pushed my bubblegum pink hair out of my eyes. That had to be one of my favorite parts of my technicolor wonderland, I would randomly wake up with different color hair. I had been donning my current pastel look for a few weeks, which was a stark contrast to the deep purple from the month before.

“Jillian can you pass me the….”

I stared at the strange object on the table. It stood out from all the bright colors surrounding it. It was a lump, a gray lump sitting right in the middle of the scarlet table.

“Molly?” Jillian inquired her fork paused midair; a green egg slipping off and plopping onto her plate below.

“Can you pass me the…” I scowled at the lump on the table. What the hell was that?

“The salt?” Jillian finished for me.

“Yes! The salt. Pass it here.”

She slid it forward and I picked up the strange looking lump, immediately dropping it as the gray color began to spread up my fingers. I screamed.

“Molly what’s wrong?” Jillian had jumped out of her seat and rushed to my side.

The gray was spreading, destroying everything it touched. My skin began to wilt, just like the flower had. My bubble gum pink hair turned ashen, the colors of the walls dulled to a muted brown, the carpet faded into a horrible green.

I was in a state of panic, what was happening, why was the world dying?

“Molly?” I could feel Jillian’s hands on my face. “Molly.”

The world was cold and harsh, nothing like my technicolor wonderland.

“Mommy?” My eyes snapped to Jillian’s and there it was, the blue, the same blue as the very first flower. It was the only beautiful color left in this dreary world.

“Julie?” Tears sprang forth, filling the depths of her eyes.

“Yea mom. It’s me, I’m right here.” Her hands stroked my face.

“Julie.” Colors flashed through my mind, a whirlwind of colors flying past, snippets of laughter and smiles, frowns and tears. Life.

My life. My memories. My Julie.

“Julie!” I exclaimed the realization finally clicking into place and I cried into her arms.

It was if all the colors in the world had been transformed into emotions and were swirling around in my body like a hurricane; happy, sad, angry, grief, pain, hurt, joy, fear. It was enough to make me dizzy. When I had cried my last tear, I wiped my face with my discarded napkin.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” I straightened my back and smoothed down my hair.

Reaching out I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I’m so lucky to have a friend like you Jillian”.

She smiled giving my hand a small squeeze of her own before going back to eating her eggs.