Alyssion heard the Behavior Police yelling at some unlucky person on the street. She felt the rain drop onto her face and neck and slide down her back. Drops collected at the tips of her eyelashes before dripping down onto the beautiful red umbrella.
The wet plastic was smooth under Alyssion's fingers. The words the Man had said were ringing in her ears. Maybe she was unique. Maybe she was different or special. Maybe she was Alyssion. Maybe she was born that way.
Whatever she was, Alyssion wanted to be herself. Not what everyone told her to be. Herself. One Alyssion Fredrick Jones.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Alyssion's nose twitched as a raindrop hit it. She looked up and blinked to protect her eyes from the falling droplets. Light refracted in their tiny bodies and they stood out against the bleak, gray sky. Alyssion knew that somewhere above the gray clouds was a hover pad full of scientists, clicking and tapping away, controlling every gust of wind and drop of rain.
"Comrades are reminded that RAIN is a natural occurrence and does not require any sort of emotional reaction."
Alyssion's eyes drifted up to the tiny speaker hanging on the gray wall. These speakers were all over the black and white city of Conformia, and the blue blinking lights on their sides were the only color Alyssion had ever known.
Until now. Now, Alyssion had color in her hands and in her heart. She opened the bright Red Umbrella and held it over her head. She heard the water drops fall onto it, and she saw them slide off onto the cobblestones. A few of those drops fell onto a bit of earth by the side of the road.
Alyssion walked up the street to her job at the Comrades Chemical Plant, carrying her Red Umbrella high. Alyssion never looked backward. But if she had, Alyssion would have seen one, very tiny, purple flower blooming where the Red Umbrella's shadow had fallen.
