Blue: A Novel

Blue. Everywhere. As the dawn light began to flicker through her sable-tinted lashes, all Daisy could see or sense was the color blue. Faint shadows distinguished themselves, and as her eyes adjusted, she began to notice shades of green moving toward black with strands of deep violet woven within. Aqua. Amethyst. Navy almost turned to black. The colors enveloped her vision. The primary variation in hue was between multiple shades of sapphire. No white or distinct light. It was like her corneas were covered in some outrageous version of that awful plastic wrap that came in different colors and made your food look anything but appealing.

Slowly, she turned her head from side to side, hoping for a different view. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Only the changing shades of blue appeared in her vision. It was mildly disconcerting and slightly alarming. She wondered what could possibly have happened since she’d last opened her eyes.

Twilight shone ever so slightly as her eyes adjusted to the new sight. Her senses expanded until she felt a light touch she could only describe as more blue. It whispered to her heart. Her olfactory sense began to twitch with a hint of an aviary-like scent. Her nose crinkled and her thoughts ran rampant. What’s happening here? It feels like a dream, but I can smell it. And taste it and hear it. Weird! The beating of her heart thrummed in response.

Daisy imagined rubbing her taste buds against the scene that enveloped her: this object of blue with shadings of violet, green, and black. Brown, too, she noticed on another round of observation. Her mouth watered and her tongue thrust outward, struggling for momentum toward any point of contact. Something tacky brushed against it and stuck to the sparse moisture. Eww. What is that?

She bristled at the gummy touch, but her instincts were tinged with an element of excitement and extreme curiosity. Somehow, she knew this wasn’t a tragic event. Nevertheless, the ability to experience only shades of blue was not how she’d ever imagined her day unfolding.

“Hmmm. Whaddya do when you can only see blue?” she mumbled aloud.

What if the sky has fallen and this is the result? What if I had a brain aneurysm and my vision is messed up? What if I stay like this forever? Would that be so bad? I do like the color blue. Except it’s only the color—nothing else. Only that weird hint of something, I don’t know what. Maybe this is what blind looks like?

So it went for a while: the wondering and musing, approaching panic and calming down again, as Daisy vacillated between amusement and concern. Finally, exhausted from her mental gymnastics, she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.