Rainbows Can Be Sad

• Erin Mckay, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2015

Red was the colour of her lipstick when you took her out for the first time. It was the colour she left lingering on your cheek when you took her home and it was the colour of both hers and your cheeks when she walked inside.

Orange was the colour that reflected in her eyes when you took her camping and you had finally lit the fire. It was the colour of the scarf that you wrapped around her neck because then and there her happiness was all you needed, and if she was warm, you were too.

Yellow was the colour of the dress she was wearing when you had that picnic in the park. It was the colour of her perfectly painted nails that drew small and meaningless lines across your back and in that moment you thought nothing could be more perfect.

Green was the colour of the piece of paper that you slid across the table to her in the library, on which were three little words scrawled out in your messy handwriting. It was the colour of her eyes when she looked up at you holding that piece of paper, so luminous and so happy.

Blue was the colour of the sheet of paper that she slid across the table to you in the library, on which was a four worded reply written in her gorgeously messy writing. But blue was also the colour of the tears that fell from both hers and your eyes when she mumbled a five word sentence that ruined your world.

Purple was the colour of the jacket she was wearing when she walked out the front door. It was the colour that you couldn't get out of your head for weeks, it lingered like the red lipstick on the first date; the colour purple followed you everywhere, it was the only thing you really saw.

Black was the colour of the bottles that littered your room months after she left, you no longer saw purple, only black. It was the colour of your heart and soul, left for dead by the girl in the purple jacket with the blue paper, the green eyes, the yellow dress, the orange scarf and the red lipstick; the girl that made you realise that rainbows can be sad.