This is part two of our series “Writer’s Palette,” where writers express what a specific color means to them. You can find part one here. This piece by Brennen Bariso is inspired by the shade cosmic latte. Do you see the color? If not, look more closely.

“"The real color of outer space would not look out of place on an office wall: it is beige. After studying the color of light emitted by 200,000 galaxies scientists have combined them to produce the color, they have dubbed 'cosmic latte'".” – The Telegraph

1.

if you opened me up this is what you would find: three slices of a lemon, a moon rock, twelve thumbtacks, a pink peach, a heart the size of a grape, a red toy car, a heart the size of a coconut, the color of milky coffee, a fortune cookie, light that you can touch.

2.

i rescued a dog once; saved it from a mighty dragon and carried it home in my arms. i walked into the kitchen and you just stared at us until i announced that we were keeping him and i had already named him "orion." you laughed and said "onion" would be a more fitting name. i laughed and we gave him a bath together.

3.

yes, i have my skeletons but at least i dance with them instead of keeping them in my closet. at night, my favorite one tucks us into bed and you have a dream where you're with your lover and there's that song playing from that one movie you both really like. and before you ask me, yes, i had the same dream.

4.

one of my earliest memories is definitely cracking my head open. i was three and a half and i fell off the couch and hit my head on the metal radiator. i picked myself up and looked at my mom and the first thing i said was "i'm sorry." at the emergency room the nurse told me she could see chocolate and stars in my brain and i believed her.

5.

there once was a boy who always looked up wherever he went and the town nicknamed him Saturn because that's what they said he was looking for. this was decades ago, but the town still looks up at the night sky and they call the small orange dot Boy.