⚘ Synesthesia ⚘

Chapter 1 ⚘

Chapter 1 of 11:
The Boy Who Would Be King

12 Years Ago

"Now Avery, we're going to try something new, okay?" Avery nodded at Dr. Jackson. He had been seeing this particular therapist for almost a month now. According to Avery's mother the last therapist was "incompetent" and "a complete idiot".

Avery wasn't sure what the first word meant, but by the tone of his mother's voice, he had assumed it wasn't a nice thing to say. He recognized the word idiot, only because he had overheard his father saying it to his mother many times. He gathered from his mother's tears that idiot wasn't very nice either.

"Now, how old are you?" Dr. Jackson asked. Avery held up five fingers on his hand.

"Five." Avery answered. Dr. Jackson nodded, shifting in his chair that was across from Avery.

"Okay, so I want you to do something for me." He said. Avery did his best to give his full attention. He stopped moving in his seat and leaned forward a bit, as if to say, "I'm listening".

"Whenever you feel something, I want you to think of a color too, okay?" Avery nodded, trying his best to understand. Luckily, Dr. Jackson noticed Avery's confusion and tried to explain further.

"Avery, when you feel angry or mad, what color would that be?" Avery thought for a moment before finally decided on an answer.

"Red!" Avery exclaimed, excited by the idea. He was never that great with words and colors seemed like a simpler alternative. "No, wait. Orange!" He decided. Dr. Jackson nodded.

"Okay, so being mad is red-orange." Avery nodded.

"Yeah."

"What I want you to do, is whenever you feel something, think of a color to go with it." Dr. Jackson said. "It'll help me better understand what you mean." Dr. Jackson offered a comforting smile. "Do you think you can you do that?"

Avery nodded, eyeing the candy jar that sat on the therapist's desk. He really tried his best to pay attention, but he was getting a little bored. Besides, back home Avery had already been doing this with his best friend, Ryder.

Dr. Jackson turned around to see what Avery was looking at. He gave a soft chuckle when he saw it was the candy jar. Dr. Jackson grabbed the jar and opened the lid.

"You want one?" The Doctor asked. Avery nodded and reached his hand into the jar, pulling out an orange sucker. Dr. Jackson looked at his watch and stood up from his chair.

"Well, I think it's time I let you go back to your mom, okay?" Dr. Jackson asked. Avery nodded and pushed himself off the chair.

"Bye." He gave a small wave and exited the therapist's room to be met with his mom sitting in the waiting area.

"Hi, honey." Avery's mom said, swaying a bundle of blankets back and forth. "Lily just fell asleep." Avery stood on his tiptoes trying get a better look at his sleeping sister. After giving up on trying to see the sleeping girl's face, Avery decided to ask his mom a question he had been wondering for a long time.

"Mom?" Avery asked. "Where's dad?" Avery's mom momentarily stopped swaddling Lily. She shook her head before changing the subject completely.

"Are you ready to go home?" Avery's mother asked. Avery nodded and followed his mom out the door, the sucker still in his mouth. He felt a little confused as to why his mom didn't answer his question, and decided to try that thing Dr. Jackson told him to do. He decided that what he was feeling would be a blue-green.

Avery climbed into the back seat and watched his mom gently lay Lily down in her car seat. "Goodnight, princess." His mom whispered, kissing Avery's sister on her forehead. Avery gave a small frown as he watched his mother shut the door and slide into the driver's seat.

"Why don't I get to be a princess?" Avery asked, pulling the sucker out of his mouth with a pop. Avery's mom looked into the rear view mirror, eyeing her son.

"Do you want to be a princess?" She asked, her voice showing slight disbelief. Avery pondered this for a moment before speaking.

"No," He said, his face lighting up. "I want to be a king!" Avery's mom gave a small smile.

"Then you can be a king." She said, causing Avery to give a toothy grin, before putting the sucker back into his mouth.

"And may one day you have a kingdom to rule."

TW: this book is going to have mentions of abuse, self harm, depression, anxiety, and things similar. Stay safe frens and don't read if that's going to hurt you ❤️❤️