Scarlet.
It seemed like such a complex word. One that had several connotations and none of them alike.
Scarlet like the coat she had tucked away in her closet. It was a fabulous coat - one that made her feel worth noticing. She only wore it twice. The last was to a funeral; a deathbed wish by the man that loved her. Scarlet was not a color a doctor should wear. White. That was it for her.
Scarlet like the ribbon worn by little Molly from the children's wing of the cancer ward. It keeps her light blond hair back, out of the way during her infrequent escapades. Cameron only met Molly because she was indeed on an adventure. The ribbon, with its sweet pull on the light hair, pulled at Cameron's heart like an imbedded knot. Molly called her Ally and always saved Cameron her last cookie for the afternoons she dropped by after lunch.
Scarlet like blood, venous blood sliding across dark brown skin. A brother taking his little sister to dancing lessons- caught in the crossfire of another's vengeance. Yale would have one less member in its incoming class that year.
Scarlet like the haze before her eyes, the perfusion of blood beneath the surface of her skin. Its reddening effects flushing her otherwise porcelain complexion. It was the synonym of her anger. Anger tinged with frustration and a slight desperation. It was an arrow shot through the night, missing its mark by a mile.
Scarlet like the dry erase marker a young man once used to write a coy sonnet upon the white board hanging on her door. It won him a smile, a hug, a kiss and a wife. She never liked that marker when it was used at work. It never carried heartfelt sayings, or witty back-and-forths.
Scarlet never reminded her of Hester Prynne or the letter 'A'. She always felt that she could apply it to herself. But to convict oneself to a life cursed by a letter the color of sin never seemed quite right. To her it was the color of life and what it felt to be alive.
Before leaving her apartment for work that day, a coat was tugged free from its hanger and swept across the shoulders of a woman with long brown hair. With this coat she could stop traffic. It went by no other name than scarlet.