by Jana Waleed
Listening to her speak, I was engulfed by the utter tenderness of her color. Just the sight of her speech sufficed to thaw out my frigid emotions, but not for long; I’d wait for months to view this orange color again. In the midst all this orange, I sensed a faint shadow of navy blue. Soon, however, the warmth was disrupted by a prominent presence of it; the assistant was outside the door. I looked down at the earphones then looked back up, piercing a stare into her eyes; I was waiting, yet I was not. Again, the wait proved worthless, and all I was given was a hefty shaking of her head. The end of the conversation had come. I scurried to the window, letting the orange words of farewell penetrate my ears as the last spoken words I would see or hear that day, and in swift action, earphones impeded my hearing, I pulled the handle of the opened window, I smilingly looked back at her solemn face and finally scaled down; there was no getting used to this.
Nudging some people here and there, displeased eyes followed me, but I continued; nothing would stop me now. Panting, I continued to move quickly until I was standing in front of my house, “You are not welcome here,” it told me. “I know,” I said, and entered. Walking through the hallways leading to my room, no one greeted me. No matter— I didn’t greet them either. As soon as I put my hand on the door knob, a sensation, a voice, came over me. No! The red words! I-I didn’t make it on time. I was going die by its hands. I couldn’t tell where its voice was coming from; the ringing of my ears would not stop. Where is it?! Getting further away from the door, my senses were still hindered, so I made a run for it. I ran, head first, to my room’s door. Bang! Not yet, just a bit more. Bang! Just one more. Bang! There, that’s it. I could finally hear it, but it was the only thing I could hear and see, nothing more. Red took over my senses; my thoughts would not come. I was too late…again. Its larcenous hands wrapped around me, and soon I would be deprived of my health. It left no room for me to breathe; it was suffocating me. “Shhhhh, calm down,” the red words threatened me, and it squeezed harder. I kicked and screamed, but nothing; it would not stop. I did not wish to end up with broken ribs again, “Pl-please stop,” it said, “Mother won’t hurt you for meeting your sister,” it lied. A sudden creak of the door caught my attention, “Mom,” she said as my vision filled with her orange color, “I called as soon as she left. Hold on, let me get her meds.”