A Colorless Week

Harold Wilhelm Ford hated hospitals. He always grew nauseous of its scent. Everything about the plain-colored walls reminded him of his dark, bitter past. But with his mother's state of health, he was always brought back to the place he wanted to stay away from. He felt as if he was confined with his mother. Dreading, he counted the days as they slowly passed by. They rarely left the room for other reasons than to take a test, but before he knew it, his mother was already going to be discharged.

He couldn't have been more glad. Well, that was what he thought until he met the patient in the room next door. He always heard her arguing with the nurses. But he didn't expect that he would meet her for himself. She was strange, but unmistakably familiar. It took a quick stare to remind him of the girl who loved him since the start.

She was Harriet Jane Asher, his childhood neighbor. He was shocked to see her in that condition. He remembered her to be the type of girl who was very healthy and rarely got sick. As he caught up with his friend, he understood her situation deeper. Unconsciously, his sympathy made him stay a bit longer at the place he disliked the most.

They got closer to each other, and it brought back memories of their childhood. He realized that spending time with her made it easier for him to move on from his past. But even though she opened up to him, there were still some things that were a mystery to him.

"Why was her room painted with colors of the rainbow? But whenever I pointed at a rainbow in the sky, she would feel sad and tear up?"

"Why did she have all those coloring materials, when all she ever drew were monotonous sketches of the same shades and shadows?"

"Why was she so similar to the only girl I ever loved?"

"Why did she remind me so much of the person I so wanted to forget?"

He wanted answers to his questions. But it seemed as if the odds weren't in his favor.