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She puts on her blue coat, so out of fashion, and she is blue too, like blue is the sky, the sea, the sadness. Things change fast and she should quit, only she can’t. She is the relic of an old world, in which people walked down the aisles smoking in grocery stores. She’s overwhelmed, thinking of lighting another cigarette, only she can barely breathe.
He puts on his red hat, so old and worn out, and he is red too, like red is fire, power, despair. Things change fast and he should quit, only he can’t. He is the relic of an old world, in which piles of dirty clothes keep growing, growing, growing, they hide the view, and he can’t clean. He’s overwhelmed, thinking of setting the house on fire and get a new one, only he can’t afford to.
They can’t keep up but then they meet. They reach for a soothing power within but they find nothing. They have run out of mother figures who would caress their hair and hold their hand and stand beside them, when things go wrong, they have run out of people to clean their mess, untangle the yarn, because they’re old, their world is dying, but they’re still here, alone.
They find each other and then they mingle, they are the relics of worlds forgotten, but when they mix, they come in new colors, they make a world that fits them, that feels comforting, because they realize that there is a mother figure in every story, it could be a cigarette, the opposite of life force, the alluring call of oblivion, or it could be a person, it could be love, when blue and red mix and make violet, and together they’re majestic and magic and pure and less alone.
Mileva Anastasiadou is a neurologist, from Athens, Greece and the author of "Christmas People" and "We Fade With Time" by Alien Buddha Press. A Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Microfiction and Best Small Fictions nominated writer, her work has been selected for the Best Microfiction anthology 2024 and Wigleaf Top 50 and can be found in many journals, such as the Chestnut Review, New World Writing, trampset, and others.