For Better Or For Worse

He looked at her in awe. With deep longing.

She was beautiful.

Milky white and flawless.

Walking towards him.

Like a pearl bobbing in a sea of mud.

Always standing apart from everyone else.

Shining whiteness amidst brown murkiness.

Brown.

So earthy. So common. So all pervasive.

It was everywhere. It meant everyone.

He looked at her wistfully.

Well. Almost everyone.

His thoughts turned to himself.

Evenly toned flawless light brown on the outside.

Confident and sure on the inside.

Without realizing.

Without conscious thought.

He felt slightly proud.

But he felt that he didn't compare to her.

She smiled at him.

She saw love in his eyes. Adoration.

Her smile was so pure. So beautiful.

His heart leapt a little. Everytime she smiled like that.

He smiled back.

But all that was years ago.

Five years ago. Or was it six?

A lot had changed in those years.

Murkiness was all that he craved for these days.

The brown murkiness that he had once so abhorred.

When did he first notice?

The first tell tale tiny sign.

The first tiny spot.

When was it?

"Just some deficiency" he had thought.

But the deficiency had spread.

Fast.

Embarrassingly fast.

Lightness replacing the light brown.

Only this was not the shining whiteness of the pearl.

The pearl that had once signified the love of his life.

This was a white curse.

A white curse that he would have to life with.

For better or for worse.

It was not everywhere. It did not mean everyone.

It was rare.

A medical condition.

"Leucoderma".