Colours of Nature
written by: Mike Henry
It wasn’t love at first sight.
She had met him at university and found him attractive, but he was so ‘proper’ and seemed to always keep his distance. Maybe it was the race thing – Solomon was black as the proverbial ace of spades and was from Pretoria, South Africa. Megan, by contrast, was the typical English rose with golden hair and a peaches and cream complexion. She also liked to think of herself as anything but ‘proper,’ at least in that sense of the word. Outspoken and always the life of the party, she was certainly no wallflower and enjoyed a wide circle of friends among the student body.
Megan’s parents were from a working-class background but had both excelled academically and had gone on to forge solid careers – mum as a teacher and dad as the sub editor of a national tabloid newspaper. They’d bought an old farmhouse and barn on a couple of acres north of London shortly after getting married and had raised Meg and her older sister, Juliette, in a healthy outdoorsy environment complete with home-grown organic veggies and their very own ponies.
Solomon came from a well-respected middle-class family and was an only child. His father was a doctor at Pretoria General Hospital, and his mother, while well-educated, concentrated on running the household along with the usual domestic help. Solomon was raised in the expectation that he would follow in his father’s footsteps and enter the medical field, and was overjoyed when he gained a scholarship to study in London.
Megan was passionate about animals and adored her pony, Prince, who was an eighth birthday present from her parents. She made up her mind at a fairly young age that she wanted to work with animals and eventually chose veterinary science. She liked the idea that Solomon was going to be a people doctor, and she was going to be an animal doctor!
They ran into each other quite often on campus and eventually started dating – something that Megan orchestrated quite shamelessly since she wasn’t afraid of making the first move in any situation. She enjoyed listening to Sol tell stories of his childhood, growing up in Pretoria. He painted pictures of his hometown during jacaranda season when the whole city was a haze of purple and explained that was why Pretoria was also known as Jacaranda City, as well as by its native name, Tshwane. She loved how he pronounced ‘Tshwane’ and also begged him to teach her some Xhosa click words so she could show off her linguistic skills to her friends.
They graduated in the same year, and Sol went on to further studies, with a view to specialising in pediatrics. Meg returned home to English village and life with her parents. She had missed country life and her pet menagerie of dogs and cats and chickens and, of course, Prince, who was getting a bit old and doddery now.
After a couple of weeks of settling back into home life, she approached the local vet about a job and was delighted when he offered her a part-time position. He warned her that the work could be quite challenging at times, like when they might have to go out to a local farm in the middle of the night to help with a calving. She assured him that would not be a problem as she was keen to get all the experience she could and planned on having her own business eventually.
Solomon paid a brief visit to his parents back in Pretoria, then returned to London and his further studies. With the help of some contacts from his father, he managed to get a position at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, a world-renowned children’s institution.
The two kept in touch and spoke on the phone several times a week. But Meg was missing her man and decided to take a trip down to London just for a weekend. She emailed her friend, Tanya, who had a nice little flat not far from GOSH, and asked her if she could put her up. Tanya was delighted to hear from Meg and readily agreed to give her a bed for a couple of nights.
Solomon found Tanya’s address on the London map he often referred to for directions and went around as soon as he got off work that Friday evening. He was so looking forward to seeing Meg again after several weeks of being apart. Tanya was a good sport and went out for the evening with friends, leaving the two of them alone together.
After a long hug of greeting, the couple sat down on the sofa with a glass of wine and fell into an animated conversation about all that had happened since they’d last seen each other after graduation.
When Meg asked Sol if he’d said anything to his parents about their dating, he admitted that he hadn’t.
“What’s the matter, you ashamed of me?” she jibed.
“Well, we haven’t really discussed it ourselves, have we?” he countered.
“Maybe it’s time we did…I told mum and dad about you – that you’re from South Africa – and they seemed cool with that. I’ve been thinking of suggesting to them that you come up for a visit one weekend.”
“Yeah, you told them I’m from SA, but did you tell them I’m black?”
“Oh, here we go – the dreaded elephant in the room! “ Megan began to feel a wild frustration that she knew would be hard to control.
“I’ll have you know that my parents would not have a racist bone in their body.”
”And I’ll have you know that when it comes to their daughter, they may turn out to be the most racist people in the world! I haven’t grown up in this skin without learning a thing or two about human nature.”
At that, Megan lost it and spun around in rage. She grabbed him by the shirtfront – he was wearing the pale pink shirt she’d given him for his last birthday. She had chosen the colour because of how gorgeous it looked against his dark complexion.
“Dammit, man, you’re so full of shit!” she screamed, her angry face within inches of his.
“Why can’t you get it through your thick skull that I love you and that’s all that matters?” The big blue eyes looked into his dark brown ones and filled with tears, then overflowed down her flushed cheeks. She sobbed, heartbroken.
“Hey, take it easy, babe,” he said as he reached over and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and let out a deep sigh.
“Okay, let’s talk about this,” he said in a firm tone.
Over the next hour or so, they each laid their hearts on the table and continued chatting as Meg served up a casserole dinner, which she’d prepared that afternoon. Later in the evening, Tanya rang to say she’d be staying over with friends and for them to make themselves at home.
Solomon helped Meg clear the dinner table, then they drank coffee while listening to some jazz. Suddenly, Sol turned to Meg and said,
“You know, we have practically nothing in common, and I really don’t know where this is going to go. I’m black, you’re white. I’m city, you’re country. I’m introvert, you’re extrovert. I’m Christian, you’re a heathen. I’m from Africa, you’re from England.” Before he could continue, Meg cut him off.
“You’re a man, I’m a woman!” They looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“None of that matters if we love each other,” she declared, then, looking him straight in the eyes, she said, “You do love me, don’t you?”
“You know I do.”
“Right, that’s settled then. When’s the wedding?”
***
Little more than a year after that fateful weekend in London, Solomon and Megan stood in a forest clearing not far from her parents’ village home. It was a beautiful May morning, and the sun shone in a clear blue sky. Only a hint of rain hovered on the far horizon.
The fresh green grass was soft under their shoe-less feet, and they gazed at yellow daffodils and blue crocuses beneath the surrounding beech and sycamore trees.
Megan glowed, her golden hair entwined with a garland of fresh meadow flowers – white daisies and yellow buttercups. She wore a long, diaphanous white dress and her mother’s pearl necklace.
Solomon looked nervous but nonetheless handsome in his African-inspired outfit of many colours, his tunic a riot of scarlet red, emerald green, gold, turquoise, and purple.
The gathering of family and friends numbered just a few dozen and included a small contingent from Africa. They sat and chatted to each other, then fell quiet as the Humanist Celebrant emerged from a small tent by the side of the clearing.
“Friends and loved ones, I am delighted to welcome you all to this special day to celebrate the marriage of Megan and Solomon. This is truly special because two special people have committed to spend the rest of their lives together and will declare this commitment before you, the people who mean so much to them.
I have to say, also, that this ceremony has been totally organised by the happy couple with very little input from me. After the ceremony, we will all proceed to Megan’s parents’ place, where a reception has been prepared in the lovely old barn.”
The short ceremony went well, and as it concluded, someone in the tent turned on a portable CD player, and the unmistakable voice of Louis Armstrong drifted through the trees.
“I see trees of green, red roses too…I see them bloom for me and you… And I say to myself, what a wonderful world… I see skies of blue and clouds of white… Bright sunny days, dark sacred nights…
Just then, the sun broke from behind a cloud, and the most magnificent rainbow appeared over the forest clearing!
“The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky… Are also on the faces of the people walking by…”
The happy throng of people gasped in unison and broke into spontaneous applause, then gathered around the newly-married couple and showered them with enthusiastic congratulations and sincere wishes for a future full of happiness and never-ending rainbows!
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