Painted Eggs - 1. Chapter 1

Painted Eggs

Chris was drinking coffee in his little kitchen. The coffee was nearly black. The room was nearly white. The linoleum on the floor and the paint on the cinderblock walls were a continuous sheet of eggshell white. The whole tiny apartment was neutral and bland. It had no character. It spoke of the emptiness in his life that Chris was too aware of. Being there was almost surreal. A year ago he was celebrating Easter with his parents and siblings.

That summer he had left his parent's home for a far away city. He had given up all his security and comfort for a boy who claimed to love him. He had practically dumped his family. A few months later the boy dumped Chris. After that he took his empty heart to the empty little apartment. He closed the door and never let anyone in. He would have loved to spend another Easter with his friends and family but he could not afford the journey home. He was not even sure he could stand the reaction he would get if he came home.

As he sipped the bitter coffee Chris could hear happy voices one story below. He opened the faded window blinds and looked into the courtyard. It had a green lawn and a few blooming bushes. Many of his neighbors were outside. Someone had hid Easter eggs and children were busy looking for them. They carried their brightly colored treasures in brightly colored baskets. Chris remembered how he had always loved Easter eggs. Eggs were supposed to hold life but Easter eggs never did. They made life more colorful and more meaningful. They always held something good inside. All one had to do was penetrate the shell. It had never mattered what he believed in. There had always been painted eggs waiting for him one day each spring.

Eventually all the neighbors left. Everyone took some eggs with them. The Christians went to their churches. The others went home to their families. Chris sat on his old battered white couch in front of the giant spool that served as a coffee table. He missed having a family and friends. He missed colored eggs and smiles. He was trapped in the drab endless white of what felt like a giant shell. He began to think of forgotten Easter eggs left outside. These eggs were hidden too well. They would just lie in the sun until they were inedible and rank.

His musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. Chris got up and opened the door a crack. He recognized his neighbor from across the hall and opened the door the rest of the way. The neighbor was smiling and looking cute in his Sunday best. He explained shyly that he had come to wish his neighbor a happy Easter and had brought him some eggs. Chris smiled back and invited his neighbor in. He made some more coffee and they sat and talked for a while. Both of them were spending a poor single man's Easter but it was pleasant because they spent most of it together. They visited their neighbors and found things to do. The broke open Easter eggs and found some hope under each brightly colored shell.