Madness and Women
Stories
Poetry
vincent's painting
he was born with something called achromatopsia.
that meant he couldn't see any colors except black and white and shades of gray.
when he was five he asked his mom what do the sun and sky really look like.
she promised someday he'd see for himself.
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on his twenty-first birthday his girlfriend gave him a copy of vincent van gogh's painting called wheatfield with crows.
it didn't matter if he couldn't see the colors.
he loved it because she gave it to him.
he'd follow her to the end of the universe if she asked him to.
he tried to tell her that but the words collided with each other or disappeared altogether.
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she placed the painting into his hands and told him to close his eyes and count to ten.
he counted and opened them and stood in the middle of vincent's wheatfield.
he gazed at the yellow sun and the blue sky.
he watched the gold and brown wheat blowing in the wind.
van gogh sat at a table and invited him to lunch.
after they ate it was time for him to leave so he closed his eyes and counted to ten.
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he opened them and was in bed with her.
she asked if he liked his present.
he said yes and wanted her to go with him next time.
she wasn’t allowed since he owned the painting now.
he didn't want it anymore.
he lit the picture on fire and tossed it into an empty fireplace in the room.
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that night they slept under the stars in a wheatfield at the end of the universe.