Short Stories

You Brought Me Colors

Ok, let me get things straight.
I'm colorblind.
Yes, yes, you heard me right. Colorblind. Not the kind where I can only see a few colors. The doctors say I have a special type of colorblind that only one in a hundred million people get.
I only see in black and white.
Not like a dog, they can actually SEE a few colors (like yellow and green and blue).
How do I know it's black and white? Well, I got a color-seeing test from my doctor. He would tell me to pick up the red apple in front of him (which I assumed was red, even though I have no idea what it looks like) but when I picked it up, he told me it was actually green. The same happened for an orange, a banana, a pepper, a blueberry, and a plum. He said the only colors I got right were some black, white, and grey papers he had, which led him to believe I had this black and white seeing colorblindness.
   It's not fun at all.
In kindergarten, we were reviewing colors, and I got sent to the office because my teacher thought I was playing around and purposely picking the wrong color. The same thing happened in art class a few years later. And when people figured out about my being colorblind, they treated me specially and helped me with EVERYTHING that has to do with color. But I don't need special attention! From my point of view, the shades of grey, black, and white are beautiful!
But one day, while I was heading to my homeroom class on the first day of school, I saw someone who completely drew all the breath from me.
   I saw him in color.
I'm not sure how I knew I was seeing color. Maybe it's because I finally understood what everyone meant by "The color blue is bright and cool" or "Red is warm and eye catching".
But to understand what I mean, you'll have to know the story starting from when I first stepped into the room...

                         —————

I walked into my new homeroom class and immediately went to the back. I sat down and put my backpack at the side of my desk, watching everyone pile in. When everyone was seated next to some friends or with someone they knew from elementary school, the teacher started taking.
"Good morning everyone, my name is Ms. Honey. I'll be your homeroom teacher for the year. To start off, I've put some chocolate on your desk, to start off the year with something sweet."
I looked at my desk and saw a mini Hershey's chocolate bar on the desk. I opened it along with the other students and ate it in one bite.
"Now then," Ms. Honey continued. "Since most of us don't know each other, we'll each stand up, say our name, and one interesting fact about us."
An interesting fact? Gee, I wonder what that could be. I guess I should say that so everyone knows in advance...
"Let's start in the back with girl with the brown hair."
Everyone turned around to look towards me. Well, I guess my hair is this brown color. I shyly stood up and gulped.
"Um... My name is Holly... and, um..." My words got caught in my throat. What would everyone say about me when I told them?
"And what is your interesting fact?" Ms. Honey asked.
"Um..." Swallowing my pride, I quietly said, "I'm colorblind."
"What was that?" Ms. Honey asked.
Taking in a shaky breath, I said louder, "I'm colorblind."
A few people murmured something like "What?" or "Pfft, she just wants attention."
"Ooh, cool. Can you tell me what color my shirt is?" A girl in the front asked. I hate when people ask me this. I just told you I'm colorblind, what do you expect?!
"Uhm, grey?"
"AHA! See? She's not colorblind!" Some other girl shouted out.
"No, I am!" I protested. Of course this happens on the first day of school.
"Ok, what color's my hair?"
"I don't know! Dark grey?"
   Silence.
"I thought you could only see a few colors if you were colorblind?" The kid next to me asked quietly.
"Well.. uh, I have this special kind of colorblind that only lets me see in black and white."
"Oh..." The girl in the front bowed her head in shame.
"Ok class, that's enough. Thank you, Holly. Next person please."
I sat down and sighed. This happened almost every year. I was sick of it. No one believes me!
I looked around the room in boredom. So many shades of grey, why can't just a little bit of color be in my world?
   Suddenly, something caught my eye. I glanced at a kid at the other side of the room and nearly choked on my saliva.
   Is that.... Color?!
The kid was illuminated in colors I've never seen before. Why is his skin not a light or dark grey? And his hair is so weird! What is this?!
I snapped my gaze away before anyone could see me staring. Was that color? I glanced at him again. The not-grey things were still there. Oh my gosh, could I be seeing color? Are my eyes being fixed all by themselves?
I can't wait to tell my parents this!

"Mr. Watt! Mr. Watt!" I frantically called through the corridors at the doctors. I turned a corner and saw Mr. Watt rushing over while trying to put his glasses on. I stopped in front of him, gasping for breath.
"What is it, Holly? Is something wrong?" He looked me over to check for injuries.
I beamed up at him. "No, nothing's wrong. In fact, everything is wonderful!" I quickly explained to him my experience at school.
He stared at me in awe. "This is amazing... Come to my office, I must check your eyes."
He quickly led me back to his office. He opened the door for me and I stepped in, smelling medicines in his cabinets. I sat down on a chair while he checked my eyes using an x-ray. I looked left, right, up, and down when he told me to.
After checking my eyes, Mr. Watt said he didn't find anything abnormal and told me it was probably just a mistake. I thanked him for checking and walked out with a sigh. It seemed so real, I couldn't have just imagined it, could I?
Pushing open the doors and stepping outside, I looked up at the light grey sky and blinding white sun. Why was I born this way? I really don't like seeing nothing but grey.
   I looked down and saw the color-kid walking towards me. I gasped and quickly started walking away, pretending I didn't notice him.
   "Hey, wait! I need to ask you something." He shouted out.
   I stopped and hesitantly looked back. He was still illuminated in all these weird colors.
   "You know me, Cody, from your class, right?" He asked, stopping a few feet away from me.
   "Uh, yeah..." So that's his name. Cody.
   "Are you really colorblind?"
   "Uh... yeah, but you–" I stopped. Should I tell him?
   "I'm colorblind, too."
   "W-what?"
   My heart skipped a beat. He's colorblind? He never said that at school! Was he treated like some crippled person, too? I stared at him and words started tumbling out of my mouth.
   "I can see you in color! Everything else is black and white but you... what are those colors?"
   "I can tell you them if you want. I can see most colors, but it's the ones that look the same that mess me up."
   "Yes please! What's that one?" I asked, pointing to a small dot of color on his black shirt.
   "That's red. And this is blue, that's green, oh, here's orange..."
    
                           —————

   I've seen color.
   I can't believe I've actually seen color.
   I still have trouble remembering the names of the colors on his shirt (which I learned was a spray painted shirt, thus all the colors).
   But that doesn't matter right now, because anything he touches, the colors will bloom before my eyes. Sadly, though, when he lets go, it fades back to grey.
   He brought me colors. He made me realize there's more to this world than just black and white. There's a whole world of color out there, waiting for me to discover it with him.