The night was cold and thin

The air was scantily clad in such a way that she felt that

If she could but stop for a second she could reach through it and grasp time

Arrest it stop it bring back the years of hope

Before the years of inevitably set in

But she did not stop

She ran

Air is a precious commodity one she had taken for granted until it was all she had

Tonight she chased it she felt as if her lungs could not get enough of it

With each new step a new shallow breath

And a new resolve to continue filling her chest

With the last thing in this world that was free

She knew that if she stopped the night would end

And she did not want the night to end

The colors were too vivid

First the reds the piercing reds

They swept out of the night sky in such an instant

That she did not have time to witness their origin

But there they were

Swirling brilliant reds that swept her up like she scarcely remembered

Indeed did she even remember it

Or was this the embodiment of a shadow she always hoped to one day remember

The color floated around her as she ran keeping up with her

Perhaps even lagging back a little so that she could keep up with it

She could not help it she began to be entranced by its brilliance

Though she dared not slow down

She peered into it

Trying to imprint upon her memory every detail of its stunning lifeform

Then suddenly did it change

The reds were not quite as flowing as they once were

They moved a little more awkwardly

She knew she had seen that movement before somewhere

Then she remembered

Yes The reds were walking

Alongside her they walked still dancingly keeping up with her every running stride

Their shapes became more and more human

She recognized one of the colors

He looked into her eyes with the love that said that it was already finished

There was nothing she could do to ever spurn that love

Then another color touched her shoulder

She whirled her head around just in time to catch the shape

Of a life that spoke of a bond with her that nothing but tears could form

In an instant the motherly shape was gone

But reformed next to the figure on her other side walking arm in arm with it

She almost stumbled

Something had touched her heels

She turned her head around long enough to see a child following behind her

It was a little girl a little girl without colors

She skipped and sauntered without a care in the world

But all the time keeping up with her

She wondered at the child she wondered at childhood

So happy so light all its cares are immediate

There is no sense of that fact that time will one day have its way

No one tells children the truth

From somewhere behind the child deep in the distance

She thought she saw another red

A different red

But she couldn't be sure she had to keep her head straight onward

To immerse herself in the air in the night

Nor did she have time to worry about the new color

Or the child as the brilliant reds by her side had split into multiple colors

Each walking at its own pace somewhere by her side

They were dear to her some moreso than others

All looked at her with varying degrees of knowingness

One in particular

He looked at her with a seriousness and a questioning

His was by far the most tender touch but not the most knowing

She slowed slightly gasping for breath as she did

She turned to look at him but her gaze was interrupted by the new color

Now creeping along the horizon next to her

It was a dark color and threatened to swallow the red she now fought desperately to keep

She reached out for him but slowly he faded and slowly the dark approached

She had seen this before

In an instant he was gone and in his place were two other brilliant reds

One for whom she cared one with whom she was comfortable

The dark color approached

She tried to outrun it but it was of no use

It swallowed up the two colors just as it had swallowed the last

She now saw that it was not a darkness but a deepness

A deep red that spoke of something she knew all too well

It sent shudders through her life-stained body

The shudders continued as she ran

And continued

Until she had unknowingly discovered that she was quite at home with the shudders

She did not mind them

In fact the deep red had mixed with the brilliant red so much so that

Neither color was now better or worse for the mixing

But they were more real

Then just as she was about to acquiesce to the new deep and brilliant red

It suddenly birthed a figure

And she hated

She hated its curves and its smoothness and its beauty

It tore from the rest of the colors revealing its blackness

And then in horror she watched as it reached back

Into the deep and brilliant red and pulled from it the loving figure

He looked at her as she ran with the same

Unquenchable love as before as he faded off into the distance

With the beautiful black figure

She ran harder and at her heels she felt the child again

She turned again to look and now saw a young lady walking warily behind her

She knew that look the colors had replaced the innocence

She had never been sure which was more desirable

But now she knew that neither could ever coexist peacefully with the other

The deep brilliant red circled around her and comforted her

It did not split into its native colors nor would it ever again

And she was grateful

Now there was another color

It crept out from behind her

She turned to look were the colors coming from the child

But it was no longer a child or a young lady

It was a young woman a young woman with a war in her eyes

Between childlike hope and the lamentable wisdom of the inevitable

She recognized that look

And she ran faster

But she could not outrun the new color

It surrounded her

And here and there penetrated the deep and brilliant red with its yellow haze

It was a tired color so tired that it was almost transparent

And blended in with the night in such a way that at times

In her gasping for air she would inevitably suck in its yellow weariness as well

But she did not mind

A little weariness might even be nice

It made her feel as if her running was accomplishing something

Accomplishment

The reds spoke nothing of that

She wondered at her life and for the first time looked upwards

There were no colors to see through just the night sky

The vastness looked down upon her as if it knew her

She slowed a little letting her inconsequential state settle in over tired bones

The yellow crept wearily into her upward gaze

And she knew the child at her heels was now a woman

She did not turn but ran onwards

Knowing all too well the look in the pursuing woman's eyes

There would be tears resolve the tiniest glints of echoes that were once laughter

But most of all the yellow weariness

Her legs were tired her lungs empty

She inhaled without the benefit of air

As the deep and brilliant red moved underneath her and helped her forward

The yellow slowed her enough to where she could look around her a bit

She discovered trees big green trees towering over her on either side

The deepness carried her down the small inescapable path made by the foliage

And the little child softly padded around in front of her

The bright eyes of the child were now furrowed under a wrinkled brow

And the once beautiful cheekbones now protruded in

A manner unworthy of the years and wisdom that made them such

At first she blushed with the hardness of the old woman's gaze

But then stared back at herself with the same knowing inevitability

The old woman took her hand in hers and walked her down the path

She tried to run to keep up but could not

The old woman dragged her softly and silently onward

As the deep and brilliant red carried her

The tired yellow enveloped her

And the green trees lapped gently at their own dust which formed her body

And she stopped running

It had been a miserable night

And they were excited to be able to go into the alley and play today

They bounced the ball against the cracked bricks of the tall buildings

And he even let her win a few times

But this turn he was going to win

With all the bravado a big brother can muster

He slammed the ball at the corner of the building where the curb met the bricks

The ball ricocheted down the alley towards an oncoming truck

As it did it dislodged some old newspaper crumblings

And in the tired yellow light cascading onto the alley through the old buildings

They saw it

His sister screamed and went running back through the shabby aluminum door

Into their mother's apartment

But he couldn't move

He stared at her

They drove down the alley

What a miserable day

The night had been cold and whenever the nights were cold

He knew it would be a long day

He watched as two children bounced a ball against the side of the grimy building

The ball got away from them and in the tired yellow haze peering through the buildings

He saw the ball dislodge some old papers

And underneath it he saw another one

They stopped the truck and walked over to the body

It was not her it was never her it was a shell

He wondered who she was

They picked her up and he knew that beneath his gloves there was coldness

But her open eyes seemed peaceful somehow that brought him comfort

He looked into her eyes as the red of the bag enveloped her body and she was gone

It was then that he noticed the boy

He hadn't moved but was staring at them with large questioning eyes

He nodded at the boy as they carried her back to their truck

And attempted a smile through his mask

The boy was motionless

We're just taking her someplace where she can rest was all he managed

I know what the green trucks mean said the boy bravely

But you've never seen this before

The boy shook his head

Fighting back the tears for which he had been taught he was too old

The man stopped and pulled his mask off over his head

He looked straight into the boy's quivering eyes

It's very short Don't waste it

He looked at the boy

The boy looked back at him

Not knowing what else to do he slowly turned away

Leaving the boy standing alone in the alley

Older whether he wanted to be or not

They put her in with all the rest