“Blue? What is Blue to you? Ha, ha! See what I did there? I should have been a poet, I tell ya!” The vendor guffawed, clearly pleased with himself. Kepa ignored him, staring instead at the tower, his forehead furrowed in thought.
Blue.
“Come on then”, he gestured with a pair of tongs, “you can have one of these, on the house. You look like you need cheering up”.
Blue. Why can’t I remember? The colour means something. Blue for the sky, blue for the sea, blue for sensible corporate business. Blue for loyalty blue for intelligence, blue for memory…
The vendor pulled out a small, concealed drawer and with the tongs delicately removed what looked like a mini burrito. He placed it with care into a cardboard case and trotted the couple of steps over to his frowning companion. The gathering crowd looked only at the billowing steam.
“Here, try this one on for size. New variety. You’ll love it. People are dying for it! hahahaha”
Blue.
Absently, Kepa palmed the roll, feeling the warmth in his fingers. He was cold, he realised, and popped the roll into his mouth.
Blue for the sea. Blue for memories….
He choked, coughing and spluttering as part of the roll went down his wind pipe. He doubled over with the effort to dislodge the piece of food. When it finally moved, he stood up and looked to the vendor who was looking back at him with a grin.
“What is blue to you?”
Kepa looked at the Elysium, shining brilliantly in the dark of night. Then, he turned to the vendor and his stand. The stand had not been touched since the vendor first opened it yet it still billowed out steam, a steam that enticed almost all, no, Kepa realised, every single person who passed by was drawn to it. He looked around. Every last person stood, staring at the vendor’s stand, some visibly salivating. And yet, it began to dawn on him, looking at the stand properly for the first time, that he could smell nothing. Whatever was drawing them in, was not affecting him. The vendor cocked his head and nodded towards Ellie. To Kepa, it looked as though the tower was beginnning to leak light. Blue seeped at first, then rapidly gathered force, covering the landscape in an icy glow. He watched as it crept nearer and nearer, until it began to touch the gathering crowd, draining them of any hues of pink or red. It did not just make them look frozen, it was, he suddenly realised, literally, freezing them in place. He turned quickly to find the vendor.
With his usual cheerful expression the vendor said: “You have three minutes”.