"Malcolm's Cerulean Dusk" - Rothkoization short story bit no. 1

by phil on Thursday Aug 17, 2006 10:18 PM

I may or may not be trying to publish a fictional short story soon. I've tried to become a more serious writer in the past, so this would be the umpteenth attempt at it. The following is a fragment from this potential short story. The story centers around Malcolm who experiences some kind of synesthesia where colors directly affect his emotions. Some of the themes have originated from a couple previous blog posts, including one in May 2006 and another in July 2004.

It's an afternoon on November 16th, one week before Thanksgiving, and Malcolm is getting nervous. The sunsets are getting earlier, earlier than when he leaves work at 6:00pm. The problems begin once the sun is fully set, and the dark orange afterglow dims away.

Malcolm is phoning Jennifer on the way outside, and explains, "For a few minutes, the world becomes a cruel cerulean. There are some shadows from the almost-faded afterglow, which buffs the already blue-ish purple into cerulean."

"Why don't I just pick you up?"

"It's okay. The only change, really, is that I have to take a long way home that doesn't have trees and keeps me faced toward the dark amber part of the sky."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"What? Taking the long way? Not until I had my own car. Before then, I just tried to wear a hat and sunglasses to hide the crying."