black and white reruns

She liked the silence that surrounded her quaint cottage, in the open field that one could paint a beautiful memory on.

[Good morning, my love!]

It was calming and it was sweet. The smell of pastries baking in the oven and the aroma of flowers surrounding her. A white cat climbed onto the windowsill of the kitchen to stare at the open and breezy view of the outside. It was beautiful.

[How are you doing today?]

A voice, a familiar one, played in the background as Bianca waited for her bread to bake.

"I've been doing well, especially when I hear your voice."

[That's good! Have you eaten yet?]

"Not yet, the bread's still baking."

[How's the weather?]

"It's sunny out."

[I hope you have a good morning!]

"You too…"

The voice was soothing, sweet, and calm with that tinge of excitement. Bianca knew the voice, remembered the voice, loved the voice. The tapes were one of the few things that truly mattered to her.

--

There was flour, and poorly shaped balls of dough on the counter. Bianca's white apron was full of color and vibrancy, conflicting with the dull outfit she wore that day.

Black and white, she didn't understand why all her others were black and white. Like color itself was nonexistent to her. She remembered Amie scolding her for not wearing enough color, and replying that Amie was the only color she needed in her life. The tapes started again…

[Hi Bee! Anything interesting happen?]

"Not really, just made a mess today."

[Did you remember to feed the animals and water the plants?]

"I did. I fed them after breakfast and I'm about to water the plants them after lunch."

A one-sided conversation was two. Amie's voice and Bianca's answers echoed through the empty walls of the home. A wilting daffodil was on the table, she had tried to remind herself to take it out soon but she kept forgetting.

--

A small red colored pot with a gardenia sat on the empty spaces of the bookshelves in the study. Bianca was trying to find a book to read to pass the time but a part of her shouts that she's read them all.

In the end she chooses a book about a mermaid and a pirate's forbidden love, a book that was worn down but looked carefully handled. A book that was oddly familiar to her, but she convinced herself it was her first reading.

[What are you reading, dear?]

"In the Ocean Where Everything Breaks by Jayden Knightley."

[Have you read it before?]

"I don't think so…"

[I hope you enjoy the book.]

"Me too…"

--

That night she went stargazing. Constellations forming lines that people believe to be representations of shapes, it made her laugh. She didn't know what the constellations were or what they represented, all she knew was that it was beautiful and bright. Like her Amie.

Fireflies started the fly around her. They reminded her of the stars, and thought that fireflies were just stars that fell from the sky. They danced around her, she tried catching them but flew away as soon as she started moving quickly.

Buttercups surrounded the home like still ants, she didn't know who planted them there but whenever they wilted, Bianca would replant them.

[The stars are beautiful tonight.]

"They certainly are, aren't they?"

[I miss you, Bee…]

"I miss you too." she answered with a bit of hesitation and a stutter.

--

The morning was usual. She ate the bread she made the day prior and listened to the tapes.

After lunch she would usually go to her library to read a book, instead she sat at the table with the wilted daffodil and looked out the window. Bianca grabbed the potted daffodil and was finally going to take it out when the tape started playing after she accidentally pressed play.

[Hey Bianca. It's Amie, this is a recording by the way for you to keep in touch with… life. By the time your hearing this, I'm probably dead and you asked for me to record this-]

She cut the tape off. Carrying the potted plant on one hand she sighed.

"You're not dead, everyone just goes too soon…"