Paint & Consequences
“It’s a brand-new color,” the painter told me. “It’s a subtle turquoise blue called “Celeste to the Ninth Degree.”
My wife and I would be the very first customers to experience the paint on our interior walls.
I told him to go ahead.
Soon the painters arrived and got to work.
They scraped, they primed, they painted.
Within a week, our home felt like a new place.
It brightened our mood.
We felt energized.
We started doing things we had forgotten how to do, especially of an amorous nature.
In love again, our feelings toward each other were stronger and more intense.
Our dog and cat became best buddies.
Later, we found out that the paint contained nanoparticles of a rare love hormone that somehow made their way into our psyches.
We felt young again and ready to conquer the world.
Not afraid of anything, we were suddenly free thanks to Celeste to the Ninth Degree.
Unfortunately, things got complicated after we got the exterior painted with outdoor paint of the same color.
Suddenly neighbors showed up at our door day and night.
Our freshly painted home worked on them like a powerful magnet.
They brought us gifts we didn’t need and showered us with their attention.
We seldom had a moment’s rest.
As soon as we tried to relax, the damn doorbell would ring again.
Overly friendly neighbors wouldn’t leave us alone.
In desperation, I called the painter and told him I wanted the most bland and uninteresting outdoor color he could find.
Ten days later, the exterior repainting was finished.
Neighborly visits came to a halt.
We were free again.
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Ken West is the author of Fresh Squeezed Flash Fiction and the soon-to-be-published Freeze Dried Flash Fiction.