Penetrating Darkness

I saw my mother’s lips touch my forehead, and whisper to me goodbye as I stepped forward into a world of confusion. As soon as she had left my vision, the havoc of a world was just darkness, devils creeping around, whispering, laughing and staring. At who? But of course, me. With vigilance and care, I made my way up the steps and through the hallway, just as my mother had directed me. Soon enough I reached the principal’s office; my safety.

First period was a blur. Not a blur of colour, but a blur of darkness. Inside, I kept complaining how obscure and despondent the room was, asking where the colour had disappeared off to, where it had all vanished. No one was there to answer my questions, no one was there to turn the light on. I was on my own.

The slightest noise made my head jerk and my senses jump, from the tapping of a pencil, to pushing a chair in, I heard it all. But behind all of this, I heard a constant whisper. Whisper about whom? Of me. The teachers all tried to help me, tried to encourage me to try and do something, ignoring the fact that inside, my lights were switched off. Although I was grateful, I was doubtful their words would do me any good.

Recess was a jungle. Unlike class, where there was only limited chatter and movement, out here it sounded like a herd of elephants were trying to bungy jump, failing in the process. Not a sound did I miss. My ears turned, alert and ready for a warning, ready to attack. Instead of unmasking a prowling lion admist the trees, I only became more familiar of the gossip of how strange I looked, and how strange I acted. My companions joined me in the dark; meet ‘Loneliness’ and ‘Different-ness’.  

Periods 3 and 4 went by, in the night, my ears groaning from the copious sounds they had to filter. Not a word was spoken to me from any whisperer in the distance. Until lunch, when she talked. I hadn’t heard her voice before, but still I assumed she was among those whisperers.

“What’s your name?” It came like a bomb fell shattering the silence. At last something to break through the wall between me and the world. I gave the girl my answer, silently wishing for her to stay. She went on, asking me questions, on and on. I answered them all with much delight, colour suddenly penetrating the world of chaos and darkness around me.

“If you see darkness now, what do you see when you close your eyes?” When I close my eyes, I see nothing. It is when I open them, that I see darkness. However, when delight and happiness runs through my veins, colours appear on my screen, from the purples to the reds, oranges to the greens. I see it all.

The girl and I sat like this every lunchtime. I did not have to say anything, just sit and listen, to the many things she had to say, things she had to tell me; from stories to gossip. As I listened, realisation dawned over me, that for once, I had been noticed, not by anyone, but a friend. The colours flashed once more across my world, and stayed like that, bringing the corners of my mouth to lift and let out a peculiar sound I hadn’t heard in a while. Once I started I couldn’t stop, the colours stayed forever.