Black & White to Color

    Grey. Grey, that's what this world is. It's boring, bland, it shuns creativity and originality unless it makes a quick buck. I just want to run from this awful reality, I want to be somewhere where I can just be free. I continue my walk home from class, bored as ever. Then I come to this old abandoned house like I do everyday. It's falling apart and it looks like it hasn't had a single repair since it was built. I walk up it's creaky, rotten steps to the porch. I did this everyday after my classes were over and would try to go inside. I know that this is trespassing, but it's been confirmed that no one's lived here in forever. I reach for the door, expecting it to be locked like always. I grab the doorknob and turn it. "CLICK" The knob actually turned today, and wasn't locked. This door has been locked everyday, I've tried to open it every day I've had class for a year. Today it randomly decides to be unlocked. I haven't pushed the door open yet, I'm a little nervous now that I've made it this far. Then, I finally push the door open and walk through the doorway.
    Bright colors, they all blur as I trip and fall through the door. As I stand up I hear another "CLICK." I turn and look to see that the door closed behind me. The door wasn't there though, it was replaced by a pale, yellow, concrete wall. I rub my eyes, thinking maybe I was dreaming. I still only see the wall, not the door of the decaying house. I look around and see I'm not even in a house at all, I'm in a city. The building are all bright colors like blue, neon pink, yellow, and green. The sidewalk is bright too, instead of grey it's bright white. The people here are colorful as well. No one I've seen so far has a natural hair color. One girl I see has dark blue hair that almost touches the ground, another has purple hair in a ponytail that curled like one big spiral. Their clothes were odd , most people dressed like they were going to a rave but some had puffy Lolita style dresses. This place looked like if EDC crossed over an anime convention. With all the color I stood out quite a bit with my black sweatshirt and shorts. It looked like there was a festival going on today. Hoards of people were dancing in the street, music was playing, and confetti and colored powder was flying. Some of the red powder had landed on me, it made my nose itch and I sneezed. While my eyes were still closed I felt a warmth. When I opened my eyes I saw couple flames but they went out instantly. My eyes widened at this sight and I guess other people noticed. One girl walked up to me.
"First time with essence huh?" She joked.
"Huh, what's essence?" I asked.
"Wow you must be new here. Essence is this powder stuff that gives you powers temporarily if you eat it. You came across some Fire Essence." Well I still don't get this place. The girl rummaged through her bag and pulled out a vial of pink essence. "Here's a bottle to start you off. You can use it for its powers or trade it for stuff in the shops." She explained.
"Wow thank you." I replied. The girl smiled and left with a wave. I remembered that I stuck out like a sore thumb so I headed to one of the clothing stores.
The store I went to sold mostly dresses and accessories.
"Hello." The cashier greeted nicely.
"Hi." I said as I walked up to the counter. "So, I'm new here and I heard I could trade this for something." I pulled out the bottle of essence I had from my pocket. "Yes you can trade essence for goods. For the whole bottle you can get a dress and a pair of shoes." That seems like a lot for a tiny bottle of powder, this stuff must be valuable. I looked around the store for awhile until I found a dress that caught my attention. It was purple with a black corset, it to just above my knees and had a sweetheart neckline. I pulled it off the rack and tried it on. It fit perfectly and was super comfortable. I paid for the dress and a pair of purple flats with the vial of essence. I changed out of my regular clothes and shoved them into my backpack. I walked outside, I didn't feel as awkward now that I fit in a bit more.
The sidewalk was packed, even more then when I first arrived. The excitement in the air was thick and impossible to ignore. I struggled to past the crowd to see what was going on. It looked liked a parade was coming through. Explosions of color went off in the street and sky as one car in particular turned the corner. Everyone was focused on one guy, he seemed pretty important, definitely popular. He wore a white dress shirt, dark purple slacks, and suspenders. The thing that really stood out though, he had dark brown hair like I did. He was the only one with a natural hair color. Somehow by chance, he looked my way, at me. Time stopped, and I froze. It was like we both knew each other from a long time ago. Our eyes locked for what seemed like a million years. Something was wrong, this felt like the calm before the storm. My body said "run" before my mind could say yes or no. I ran away as fast as possible from the parade. I ran and ran until I couldn't feel my legs. I ended up on a beach just outside the city and the sun started to set.
My breathing was heavy, my legs gave out and I fell to my knees. Waterfalls started to pour from my eyes. "What was that?!" I yelled to no one. I wanna go home...I wanna go home...I wanna go home...but I don't! Jumbled ideas bounced around in my head. I looked out to the sea, as if it would give me the answers I'm looking for. The water was tinted orange from the setting sun. The sky looked like someone spilt blue and orange paint, then ran their hands through it mixing the two. I was so confused, I wanted to scream but I lost my voice. I could only cry. I didn't know what I was gonna do, I was stuck here in this rainbow world.
There was shifting sand behind me so I turned around. To my surprise it was they guy from the parade.
"You're not from here are you?" He asked.
"N-no." I was able to manage. I wiped eyes and tried to calm my breathing. "H-how do you know?"
"I created this world so I should know, but to be specific you don't act like you're from here."
"Wait, you made this place?"
"The other would was dull, boring, bland. This place was created to be bright, to let creativity be free. You wanted that, didn't you? That's why you were able to come here." He explained.
"Y-yeah, I wanted that." I said, looking away.
"There's something bothering you."
"I don't know if I want to stay." He offered me his hand to help me up. I took the offer and stood up, my legs were sore from the run. "If I stay, I leave this things I did like behind."
"What do you get if you stay?" He asked.
"I, I get my dream and anything my mind can create."
"I think I have something that might change your mind." He said, taking my hand.
He lead me back into the city. We climbed to the top of the highest building. By now it was night and the city below us glowed. Fireworks went off in the sky, which was filled with stars. It was honestly one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. I felt something go into my hand, I looked I saw it was a key. "What's this for?" I asked.
"It's the way out. You can use it and go home, or throw it away and stay here. It's your choice." I gripped the key tightly and thought hard about my choice. My hands were shaking as I lifted the key into the air and threw it as hard and as far as I could.