I had gotten used to it by now. The coloured ring that outlined every person I saw.

The most common ones are obvious. If someone was happy, a pale blue glow would surround them. If they were angry, a red flare engulfed their body.

Pink meant love, and an emerald green meant jealousy.

I thought I had seen every emotion a human being could feel.

I was wrong...

It was a regular Tuesday. I woke up, got ready, and went to work. I said hello to Juliette, the receptionist, and sat down at my desk, ready to start the day.

That’s when he came in.

Hank, the man who sat at the desk next to mine, came in, his shoulders up around his neck and his head down.

Hank was quiet and a bit awkward, but he was a good man and a hard worker. No one really knew much about him. He kept to himself.

For as long as he’d been working there, I had only ever seen one colour radiating off him. A deep blue. Sadness.

I had never seen a blue so dark before, until I saw Hank. I had never seen such misery. It was heartbreaking. If I asked him about it, he would just say he was fine.

But I knew the truth.

This day, however, was different.

When I looked at him, I didn’t see his usual deep shade of blue, but instead, something much darker.

Black.

It was everywhere, completely surrounding him until I could hardly make out his hunched form beneath the pitch black cloud.

For the first time in my life, I didn’t just see his pain. I felt it.

Like a knife to my heart, I felt it.

It was agony and numbness all at once.

I had never felt so empty yet so overwhelmed.

Tears were threatening to fall from my eyes, so I looked away. I looked over at people on the other side of the room. They were laughing, glowing a beautiful shade of purple. Playful.

I felt my heart rate return to normal. I smiled. I was starting to feel better.

I didn’t dare look back over at Hank. Instead, I put my head down and got to work. I didn’t look up from my desk again until the work day was over, and I was sure that Hank had gone home.

I drove in complete silence. I didn’t say a word as I parked my car. I couldn’t even bring myself to properly greet my wife when I went inside. Her aura shifted from a light blue to an intense orange. Concern.

She asked me what was wrong. I told her I had a tough day at work, that I was just tired.

I went to bed, but I barely slept. All I could think about was Hank. About the shadows that consumed him.

Hank didn’t show up to work the next day.

They found him dead in his car.

Free at last. At peace.