United by One Color

United by One Color

Olivia Ngadjui

I stood amid a myriad of people. Different shades and blends. Various styles and ethnicities. Each person stood out. The crowd resembled the definition of the word “diversity.”

The scenery shifted and the people looked as if someone had stirred them all together in a mixing bowl. Together, among the different shades, the mixture formed a strange shade of red. The funny thing is I could only see the color red, so I knew for sure that my eyes were deceiving me. I rubbed them in frustration, hoping that my vision would return to normal.

A lady appeared mysteriously, everyone looked at her. I wondered why they all gawked at her because with my magical “red” vision, she looked like everyone else. I knew something had to be wrong, rubbing my eyes, I looked to the sky: It was blood red. A drop of water landed on my forehead, finally there was something to clean my eyes. My vision returned, but soon after one drop of water, a million more droplets invaded the area. As the raindrops hit the faces and bodies of the people,

Women screamed and children laughed. There was a moment of silence after a minute of horror. Everyone began to look at each other; there were now no differences in color. Everyone was now of the same hue. United by one color: Red. The color of our blood: the substance connecting the human race. Red.