The Boy Who Collected Blue Things

He said blue made him feel calm. His backpack, his pens, even his phone case — all blue.

He told me once that he collected the color because it reminded him of summer skies, and summer was the only time his parents didn’t fight.

I didn’t know what to say, so I handed him a blue paperclip from my notebook.

He smiled like it was a diamond.

He moved away that fall. I still find blue things in random places — and I leave them there, like breadcrumbs for a friend who might come back someday.