Gray - Part 1

 

Everything was gray - the sky, the trees, the buildings, and the people. Nothing was as it used to be. Rumors mentioned that the disgraceful government had found a way to do that either by coming up with a gadget that would cover up and/or remove the color from objects and people. After all, depressed people are easier to govern.

Leaving the house was not a big deal because not only could you not see colors outside, but you could not see them inside either. As a result, some people believed that something had been added to the water and the more you drank it the more the colors turned into gray. It was not all one shade of gray, there were many shades, but it still did not help. The human spirit seemed depressed, and people just walked around like zombies until their time ended. More and more people started to forget what the world seemed like with colors.

That morning she left the house with an objective, she was going to find out a way to make a difference. She was set out to break the barrier that made everything gray. The young girl could not stand to see how much everybody was suffering although some people went on about their lives as if nothing had changed. However, one thing had changed nobody smiled. To her this was torture because she was a smiley person. However, each day she noticed that she was losing her smile. For her, the smile came for the inside out and not the other way around. It was something that contaminated others. When you smile at someone, it is very hard for the person not to smile back at you. Nonetheless, these days, more and more people could not force themselves to smile back. This upset her deeply.

She got on the train that would take her to the airport. She wanted to go to the government headquarters and ask a couple of questions. Since she was a well-known writer, it would be easy to get into the building. For the past three years whenever you wanted to write something new, you had to go and communicate it to the ministry of ideas that the president had founded along with so many useless others. (Just a note here. When we talk about the president of a country, the P should be capitalized. But in this story a small case P will be used to show disapproval).

The ministry of ideas was an ugly building filled with manuscripts and rows of desks with people who would read them and decide whether those ideas could be published. It went all the way from a simple newspaper article to a grand novel; no idea would be published, put out or communicated without having gone through this process. If you were in a hurry, it was best to do it in person, otherwise it would sit there waiting for someone to examine it. You can already guess that news reports were always coming out late; except if it was an announcement from the president himself. When you picked up a paper to read or a program to watch it was old news.

She had a wonderful idea of writing about how everything was splendidly gray. Through her eyes she wanted to make people appreciate what the government had brilliantly done and for this she needed to investigate what had happened, therefore report the facts and not something that came from people's imagination.

Every time she went there, she was always greeted by the same man who would listen to her ideas with a puckish look on his face. In the back of her mind, she always imagined that this man had a crush on her because no matter who she asked to speak to, it was always he who had the time and listened to her attentively. Perhaps luck was on her side because if he were interested in her, she would use this to her advantage.

He was always very cordial, but unlike the rest of the people who never smiled, he did. Although she wanted to, she couldn't it was as if her body were being controlled by this power. “Good morning miss” his head forward. “Good morning, thank you so much for having me here this morning. I have a great idea that I would like to write about and I am positive that the president would be very pleased and earn recognition from it”. “Come to my office” he opened the door and let her in “Please, make yourself comfortable”, he said as he held the chair for her to sit down.

The office is not even worth describing because there was a gray sofa, a gray desk, a couple of gray chairs and to be honest everything looked like the same shade of gray. He stood out a bit because his suit was in a darker shade. “Can I get you anything to drink?” “Just a glass of water, please” then she thought of the water conspiracy so she changed her mind and asked for coffee that way whatever was in the water could have been modified by the hot water coffee was prepared in. “Coffee, please”.

His secretary brought in some coffee and by the shade of her hair which was a lighter shade of grey the writer knew that she was a blonde, very much like her hair as far as she could remember.

“So, miss, what can I do to help you today”? he cordially asked.

She needed to put her ideas out to make him believe that she really thought that the idea of removing color from everything, and everyone was a great move for the government and very beneficial to the people.

“I thought of incorporating this idea of turning everything into gray in my next novel and there are so many treachery ideas of how the government is doing this. However, I would like to tell the truth and I think it would benefit the government”. As the words left her mouth. Her heart was telling her that she had failed.

“I would have to run this by the president before I can give you an answer because it does involve his approval. After all it is a secret and if people found out about it, they might want to change things”.

“I totally understand but imagine how much publicity he would get, and people would appreciate it more.  I'll be in town for a few days do you think that you will have an answer before I leave?” she kept her fingers crossed.

“Certainly, if you just allow me to have a number where you can be reached, I'll get in touch with you the latest by tomorrow afternoon perhaps we could meet for a drink”.

She did not want to meet with him for a drink but felt that it would be her duty to do so. She agreed to it and before leaving told him that she was looking forward to his call.

Back in her hotel room she started to write down what she had noticed in these past three years since the color had been removed from everything and everyone. She was having a tough time herself describing the colors and how these colors made her feel, trying to empower her article so that she could have more allies in destroying whatever was allowing this to happen- mainly the president. Gray has so many shades. It promotes social equality. Her stomach was turning as she was writing, but it had to be convincing enough for the president to allow her to see how it was done.

Written: June 20, 2021 ( there are several parts)

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