ORANGE NEEDS MORE THAN BLUE By Sabrina Najib
“There is no blue without yellow and without orange” – Vincent Van Gogh.
“California is a great place to live, if you happen to be an orange” – Fred Allen
Orange borrows residences in different time zones where her joy is cemented in memories of the past. Her palette for change is that of a superior breed, yet her current present is always that of struggle… and even in her current present her past is now a dance in hindsight with laughable and wild remembrances.
If orange has wealth in experience she is certainly poor when it comes to stability or ownership. What she is, is a merchant with little merchandise — possessing only the fire and light that makes her. But even so, she was not unhappy in her present; she wasn’t at any extreme… Her shade was only subject to the state of her mind. Often bored and underwhelmed with the celebrated champions of today, she remained content as any fire could be contained.
Orange prays for tomorrow, knowing tomorrow will make her realise how today was indeed a memory for her treasure box; knowing well enough that although she viewed her present in grayscale, if today would eventually be her past then it would surely appear more colorful.
Orange needed blue, but not ever as much as blue needed orange. A blue sky is routine and expected; orange made blue look younger, and breathed life into what would otherwise be a standard palette. But blue was too adult for her. She couldn’t be his beard to make him stand out. She wanted purple, even though they may not stand out as much. Purple was a man she could love and obsess over for more than a week.
For orange never knew how to love the way the books had written; if she’d known, then her attempts to fall for the likes of blue wouldn’t have felt so tragic. Orange doesn’t make for the norm and often rejects tradition. Not easily taken by a sky full of stars but rather by the ghost that looms on the dark side of the moon. She has no hunger for the fortunes in gold or to live on permanent settlements; with only the desire to move and dance… to dream and be childlike. Where others want a better half she craves for her equal. The likes of blue and yellow may be moved by the beach and the waves, but orange craves both the sun and the arctic.
Perhaps blue is what she needed. They do, of course, make the perfect match on paper. But today, orange is hot, vibrant and robust in youth. She is a furnace made of fire and flame, too bold for hues of blue. That heat cannot be contained and blue is too safe. Orange wants wonderland and the Cheshire cat; what she’d rather do is have tea with the queen of hearts.
Sabrina Najib
My writing style is definitely influenced through imagery and rhetoric representations of themes and history from the places I’ve been and the different characters I meet. If a picture represents a thousand words; I express a picture through a thousand words. My love for writing comes from my love of literature; Studying poems, scripts and books have shaped my love for putting pen to paper. My style of writing is a reflection of my personality: often loud, unfiltered, opinionated and aggressive. It is also insightful and showcases elements of vulnerability…. I have been told I either love or hurt too much or that I care or shouldn’t care as much.
It was in high school when I first read to kill a mockingbird and the colour purple that I recognized how stories could shape one’s outlook. During my A levels I studied A streetcar Named Desire and A view from the bridge by Tenessee Williams and it was a vivid indication that even a picture in black and white, has a million shades of gray.
I have just come back to university after taking a three year break; I am now on track to graduate next year with a bachelor’s in economics. I am from Tanzania, but have had the pleasure of living in Kenya, South Africa, London and the Middle East. To say my travel have been an eye opener in exploring different styles of writing would be an understatement. For a while I didn’t write as much, but recently I decided to get back to doing what I love and have since started painting and writing poems and short stories. I feel like I have rediscovered myself and my experiences have given me a lot more to say and express; there is nothing more liberating than looking at a blank canvas or an empty page and filling it up with colours and paints.