Green - Abigail Iannitto

All around you there is green. Green is all there’s ever been. For it was green that overcame them all when their bodies gave out. Green that leaked and poured out of every empty orifice–every window, every crevice in the pavement. Even creeping out of oozing Eye sockets and decaying bones, green stems and spurts and flowers.

Green is constant. Green was kind. But now green overwhelms, it overpowers. There was a time in which this much green would be a glimmer of hope, but you’ve been around long enough to understand that the green doesn’t offer anything other than blind vanquishment of everything that was once familiar. It disguises its desire to consume everything as revitalization. So much growth can be found in the green each and every day, and yet your life contains nothing new. There’s nothing for you here.

There’s nothing here.

Are you any different than the leaves coiling up a chimney? Are you unique from the moss sprouting upon the soiled concrete? What sets you apart from the clover sprouting through the cracks in the sidewalk? You gave up asking these questions ages ago. You gave up everything ages ago. Everything but green. There will always be green.

To say your life had grown monotonous would be an understatement. The worst part seems to be that it doesn’t ever appear to have an end. Will you ever become anything but green? Many parts of you don’t wish to know the answer to the question. All you want is an ending. Any ending. Nothing ever happens and yet you constantly find yourself to be so tired. Tired of the mess of tangled vines encasing your entire body. Tired of being alone. Tired of nothing but green.

You were so sure things would stay this way forever, just keep getting greener and greener until the end of time. And, for the most part, they did. But, suddenly, something– someone– disrupted the overbearing nature of the all encompassing green.

She was the definition of serendipity, for it was without looking for her that you found her when she was needed most. Her eyes were pools of aquamarine water that shimmered when met with the gentle kiss of a thousand stars. Her hair fell upon her shoulders and cascaded past her waist as though woven into it were golden streaks of the sun itself. She adorned herself in many trinkets, many of which she seemed to think were rather tasteless, but, strangely, that was what she liked about them. She was so pretty.

Never had you ever encountered anyone so bold, so seemingly unafraid of everything. But as you came to know her, you found that the fearlessness she often showed was simply a byproduct of feeling as though there was nothing to be afraid of anymore. She was constantly empowered by her past, and the fact that she was no longer living in it. You wish to know everything about her strange past. Knowing that you have the entirety of forever left to spend with her, maybe someday, you will. She’s nothing like you, and yet, she’s everything like you. You feel as though you were destined to meet her.

Once you waited for time to pass wondering when, if ever, an ending would claim you. Now you are met with the realization that after hundreds of years, you instead found yourself a beginning. And a beautiful one, at that. Green lingers on. But now, perhaps, not just green. In the midst of this repetitive color, there is also the vibrant fuchsia that paints her lips as they mischievously curl into a smile. You now see the enticing blue of her eyes as they gaze into yours. There are the electric oranges and enchanting magentas that fill the gloaming sky in the sunsets she loves to watch with you. Somehow, the sunsets have only gotten more beautiful since you found her. Everything is more beautiful now than you’ve found her.

And so, green remains. It always has, and always will. But now you know green isn’t as tiring as it once was; for, in some way or another, the green is what brought her to you. She loves the green, and she loves that you’re a part of it. Yes, the green is forever, but now, so is she.

Avril isn’t green, but she’s still your everything. All around you, there is Avril. Avril is all there’ll ever be.