My grey day

It was a dull day. I had to reach my friend’s place. I took my books and started walking towards her house. It was a long walk and I was thoroughly bored. The atmosphere was grey, the surroundings were grey, the pavement was grey… Everything was dull and grey. So well you get it, that this was not the best of days. Absent-mindedly, I dragged myself forward. Reaching the crossing, I stood there and a second later was knocked by a girl somewhat of my age. “Hey! Don’t you see it’s the red signal?” She replied, “I’m sorry, but please can you tell me what or how is red?”

It was as if a giant brick had hit me straight on my head. I looked at her eyes, except that they were devoid of what they needed the most- her sight. I couldn’t think of what to do next. Instinctively, I escorted her to the roadside, far from the traffic. “I am sorry for knocking you down, but please can you tell me how does red look?” Tears sprang into my eyes. I tried in vain to search for words that could aptly bridge the long gap between the both of us.Just a while ago, I had been grumbling about my ‘grey day’ but then it struck me that the girl next to me lived in a ‘black day’ every single day..

“You’ll see,” I replied fighting back tears. “You’ll see red one day!” She seemed confused but never the less was happy that I had added some colour to her life. And then she walked away, with difficulty. I stood rooted to the spot and mumbled a silent prayer to God to grant her the sight of red, just once..

That was when I realised that I had to reach my friend’s place. As I walked on, I noticed the red, yellow and pink roses that bloomed colourfully at the florist’s. I noticed the green parrots, chirping merrily in the blue sky. And I also noticed a golden aura- the aura of sight- that surrounded me- always…

-Mugdha Deshpande