The Indigo Crayon

I came in a box. A box full of crayons. Each one was perfect, without a single scratch, fresh off the conveyor belt. We were crisp and beautiful, in a vibrant assortment of many colors.

We were then "prepared for shipping". This meant the box was sealed up tightly, and thrown into a pile of other crayon boxes in a large machine. The loud machine brought us to a bright room, where we sat proudly on a shelf next to markers and pens. Many humans visited this room, where they would walk past the shelves, and take the items on them to their human boxes called "home".

The only problem was, no one wanted my family of crayons. I don't know why. Maybe it was because I belonged to the twelve-pack of crayons instead of the twenty-four or forty-eight.

However, one day, a female human came and took my box of crayons off the shelf. She carelessly tossed us into a big cage on wheels and walked to a desk. By this point, I was getting quite sick of the cardboard smell, so I was happy she was buying us.

I had heard rumors that once you come out of the box, you don't have to go back in. Sometimes it gets destroyed, or other times you meet new crayons and get to live in a bigger, nicer box. You might even be able to see out of it from all sides, not just the front row or cracks in the walls.

There was a male human behind the desk. The woman handed him ten green papers, then the man put my box of crayons along with some other things into a thin bag and handed it to her. She thanked the man, and left. I was unable to see anything after that, until she took us out, placed us on a table, and turned out the light.

One day, two little boys came running down the stairs.

"Wait, Jax! I can't run dat fast!" One of them called.

"Silly Theo! It's called a wace!" The other giggled in a funny, child-like way.

They slowed their pace and approached the table, my fellow crayons and I front and center.

"Ooo, Jax! Do you wanna color?"

"Dat sounds fun!" the 'Jax' boy took my box off the table and pried weakly at the lid. "Where's your mommy? I can't open it,"

"I dunno." Theo shrugged.

"Theo's mommyyy! Can you open deh cwayons?"

A woman laughed, descending the stairs. "Yes, Jax, I can. What do you say, boys?" I recognized her. She was the woman that rescued me and my group of crayons from the tortuous hours on that shelf. Despite the manhandling, I was quite grateful for her.

"Pleaseee!" The two cried together.

"Okay, I will." The woman grinned. Light and fresh air flooded in. I felt... free.

The boys snatched us from her hands and dumped us all over a table. I bounced a little, and started rolling towards the edge...

"Oops!" The lady caught me right before I hit the floor. "I'll be upstairs, you two play nicely, okay?"

They grabbed us and started scribbling all over the paper. Some of my friends looked like they were on the verge of breaking because of how reckless these children were. We were fragile!

A while later, Jax finally wanted me. Me, the indigo crayon. I hadn't been touched.

"I want the Blue Cwayon," Jax said.

"No, I want Blue Cwayon!" Theo argued.

"Humph! Gimme Blue Cwayon NOW!"

"Nuh-uh! Blue Cwayon belongs to Theo, not Jax!"

They both picked me up and started playing tug of war. I was not a toy! I was a delicate tool for creating art.

Then I broke. Clean in half. The pain was agonizing, rushing through me from both sides of the wound.

Theo's voice faltered. "You- you broke him!" his cries could be heard from the rooftops, tears streaming down his face.

"No, I didn't!"

"Poor Blue Cwayon... he needs a funeral, like your uncle," Theo sniffed, wiping away his tears. Yet I wasn't dead, for crayons never die. They just get shorter.

"Okie," Jax agreed, saddened.

The boys ran outside with my two pieces, and dug a hole in the dirt. They placed me in it, and covered me back up. But I wasn't dead.

Years passed. Everyone forgot about me, hiding in the dirt with my other half, waiting to be found again. It was cold and dark, damp, dirty. In short, I despised it. It was horrible. The weight of the earth pressed down on me, my wrapping tore and started falling apart. No see through box, no amazing art created with me like I was promised. Disgusting soil all over me. No way I would work properly now. They might as well have just thrown me in a trash can and let me rot in a landfill. Even that would have probably been better than this.

Jax and Theo got older. Yet they still were best friends. The only pleasure I found was in the muffled voices I occasionally could decipher.

But no one remembered Blue Cwayon.

From time to time, I would hear laughing, and long to be above ground with everyone. Long to be appreciated and used the way I was supposed to.

One day, I heard louder noises, talking. Specific words recited between Theo and an unknown female voice called Alyssa. I heard voices wishing them a happy marriage... Theo got married? I knew it had been long, but I didn't think that long! I was so old. I suddenly felt the weight of the dirt pressing down on me even more so than usual.

After what seemed about a month since the wedding, a heavy rain poured down, washing away the dirt. The fresh air felt so nice. The wind, the sun, I was free once more.

Days passed, but still, no one had noticed me.

Then I heard a voice. A man walked up to me. It was... Jax? How different he looked! He had a mustache. Now that... that was messed up.

"Hey Theo, come check this out!" Jax called. Another man approached. The man had to be Theo, but I could barely recognize him.

He laughed, and that was when I really knew it was him. "Heh. It's an indigo crayon. Wonder what that's doing here?"

"Theo, it's Blue Cwayon. Remember?"

Theo thought for a moment, then smiled that familiar smile that could never change. "Yeah, yeah I do."

~1083 words