Middle of the Week Motivation

Love is Colorful

Mark kept his eyes shut as the servant banged on his bedroom door. It was practically the same anyway. When Mark was seven, he was cursed by a witch to be able to only see in shades of gray. They later hunted down the witch and killed her, hoping that would lift the spell, but it didn't. Now, according to ancient legend, the only way for Mark to see colors again was to meet his soulmate, whatever that meant. But here he is, all but 20 years later, still seeing everything in a dreary grayscale.  The banging got more persistent, causing Mark to groan as he pushed himself out of bed, throwing on a pair of white sleeping clothes and opening the door.

"What is it?" Mark asked, politely as possible.

"Your father wants you. The parade through the town is scheduled for about an hour from now." The servant replied. "Breakfast will be waiting for you."

Mark's eyes widened. He had forgotten that was today. He nodded quickly, shutting the door and hurrying around his room to gather clothes to wear. He was glad he was assigned an outfit to wear today, and that it was already set out, ready to be put on. It was hard for him to tell what matched sometimes. He quickly changed, stepping out into the hall, double-checking that his outfit looked good and was the right one. Never can be too sure. He hurried down to the dining hall, practically running, until he got right up to the door, stopping to catch his breath before stepping inside.

"Hey, Mark! Finally come to join us." His brother teased. Mark rolled his eyes, but smiled as his brother laughed, taking his place at the table and quickly diving in. "I was beginning to worry we'd have to start without you."

Mark shook his head. "You wouldn't. I know you wouldn't. I'm practically the people's favorite." Mark teased in return. His brother chuckled in response.

After a rushed breakfast, many people, their parents included, made sure the two of them looked presentable and as perfect as possible. They then boarded the carriage, beginning their way around the main city and through the different towns. Mark tended to be more popular than his brother, though both were highly respected. They tended to be more appreciated the closer they were to the castle, because they were there more often than in the farther away places. It was only when they got to the tiny town of Erstonia, however, that they ran into trouble. Everything was going just fine, until Mark saw something. Or someone.

"Thomas." Mark nudged his brother quietly.

"Yeah?" His brother replied absentmindedly.

"Is that man's hair green?"

Thomas turned to look where Mark looking, following his gaze towards a blue eyed man who stood along the road. "Yeah...?" Thomas said, not fully understanding what his brother was getting at. His eyes suddenly widened, looking between Mark and the green haired man. Mark just sat there, his jaw hanging open slightly, staring at the figure as they slowly got farther and farther away. They stopped at the end of the street, Mark's breath hitching and tears silently falling down, tearing his gaze away from the stranger, towards his brother. Mark tilted his head slightly, staring at his brother, back to the stranger, then back to his brother.

"You're still gray." Mark stated, confused. "But he's not."

"I don't understand." Thomas said, staring back at Mark.

"I don't either, but I don't really care. I just want to stare at him all day."

Thomas laughed slightly. "I'll see what we can do."

Thomas instructed one of the guards to go over and retrieve the mysterious green haired man, bringing him back to the carriage but a few seconds later. The guard roughly tossed him into the carriage, which earned him a glare from Thomas. Mark, however, just stared. He missed colors so much.