Lost

When everything went black, they realized something had changed. It wasn't just black. There was a depth to this nothingness. They could feel the edges, dig deeper with their hands, feel textures, but sight? There was nothing. Nothing close, nothing far. Just...nothing.

It happened one solar eclipse. That day became a marking point in the lives of all people. The day colour died.

And no one knew how to bring colour back into the world. Some said colour would be brought back again on another solar eclipse. People waited and waited, but nothing ever happened. Needless to say, the first generation of people who faced it found it much more difficult to cope. The next generations lived as if nothing changed.

Sarah was the fifth generation of the Blinds.

The first Blinds were the ones who suffered the most. They could feel their loss everyday and so greatly. They prayed, cried, but to no avail. There cornea had become opaque and the condition was hereditary.

Sarah was out playing at the age of five when her grandmother made her sit beside and recalled stories from the past. The Blinds were supposedly cursed by the Sun to lose sight. She told her how the sky was blue, the earth brown, the fire yellow and red - just like the Sun itself. To Sarah, they were just names. Names which had no depth. What could have more depth than darkness, she thought.

At her grandmother's death, she croaked a few words to Sarah, " Try to bring back light into the world, my dear. The world isn't a dark place. Go forth to the caves of Elloraa and find the tablet which will help find colour back into the world."

Sarah cried and cried. Her grandmother was everything to her. She had faithfully listened to her ancestors and had not been shaken in her faith, even though she also couldn’t see colour.

The caves of Elloraa - that wasn't the first time she had heard of them. Supposedly, the Sun had been affronted by a human and cursed humanity to darkness. But the truth was it was not a human - but a demon in the guise of a human. The tablet had the power, when read, to restore colour and light into the world. But it was supposedly hidden by the demon.

All the villagers could read through Braille.

Many had tried to find the tablet, but had to return hurt or empty handed.

Sarah, with the blessing of her parents, decided to go.

Two days she journeyed on foot. The horses could smell danger better than humans could, so she pawned her trinkets for a horse on her third day through the steep mountain roads.

After an hour or two on horseback, the horse stopped. Sarah couldn’t coax it to move. So she climbed down.

Feeling her way through the steep road, she went forward.

"The smell of the Earth

Tendered with care

Big is the cave in the mountain

How shall you fare?"

She ran her fingers through the inscription.

The cave was near, she could smell it.

The path was treacherous, but she managed. What are the vicissitudes of fate, she wondered.

She found herself drowsy, so she slept.

In her dream, there was a bright flurry of hues utterly different from darkness. How could she describe it? It was like finding a treasure trove full of gold, but not being able to see or realize the value of gold. Darkness descended.

An entity asked her, "Do you want to bring this back into the world? The tablet is right behind you."

The waves she saw were a seeping gurgling white. The sky reflected off the sea. It was profound. It had a depth a lot different from the darkness she was used to. The greenery was beautiful too. The leaves which crackled and whispered to them were a beautiful combination of green and yellow. The sea reflected the sky and the sky and sea met, she didn’t know where. From the snow capped mountains drizzled cold...was it water? It was so, so beautiful. Where the mountains met the earth.

She stirred, half asleep.

"But be warned, if you bring this tablet into your world under the Sun, and read it, you'll be the only one who can see."

Sarah was torn.

Sarah recalled her grandmother. What would she want her to do? Selfishly take it or leave the Earth in darkness like before?

She never could imagine such a big world from her tiny viewpoint.

But it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that only she could see. She was certain, she didn’t want this.

The demon revealed herself to Sarah.

What Sarah saw, captivated her. Green wings, a blue body, eyes large and beautiful. But it reflected the sadness and emptiness that was in this world of listlessness and darkness. She was a water nymph who was polluted by chemical effluents from the city. The trees slowly died from deforestation. The land was filled with plastic. The atmosphere was clouded. The rivers stopped flowing. Nymphs had nowhere to go. The Sun scorched deserts and forests alike. Till one day, The Earth couldn’t stay patient. It was being tormented.

The Sun did not curse humanity.

When the nymphs died one by one, she became a demon who cursed people from seeing.

Sarah brought the tablet home. She decided she won't read it. Together, everyone else read the Braille.

Nothing changed, everyone remained Blinds.

Except for a newborn of the next generation.

She could tell apart the different colours.

One day, Sarah saw a bright flash of white. It was a day of a solar eclipse. So did everyone else in the village.

After that, they could see colours. White is the culmination of seven colours.

They decided to treat nature with care.

What they lost had been given unto them for them to treat responsibly.

Sarah would tell the tale of the loss of colour and impress upon the children the need to care for the world that brought colour into their lives.