A thick, white snow falls into a silent night sky. Not a soul is stirring in a sleepy city. A girl of only fifteen sits awake by her windowsill, watching the flakes collect on the rooftops as far as she can see in her little subdivision of the enormous city.
She glances down at a mark on her wrist, which has been there all her life. It is a pale shade of blue and shaped like a crescent moon. Everyone she has ever spoken to has a blue half moon on their wrist as well. Lost in thought, she subconsciously traces it with her fingertips.
This mark is called a hue. In the City, everyone has a hue. However, not everyone has the same hue. On the left arm, on the inside of each person's wrist is a small moon-shaped mark. There are five different hues: a blue crescent moon, a white quarter-moon, a green half-moon, a purple three-quarters moon, and a black full moon. Each signifies a different race of people, so to speak. People of different hues are not allowed to communicate. It has been this way since the Gray Days.
The girl with the blue crescent hue finally floats into a light sleep as the first sign of dawn is emerging. It is not long until she is awoken again. Sleepily, and clumsily, she gets ready for school. She dresses in a blue pantsuit, as everyone with a blue crescent hue does. She pulls on long, blue socks and buckles her tall blue boots. Cramming a late breakfast of toast in her mouth, she drapes her floor-length, blue cloak across her shoulders. She picks up a blue bag full of books on her way out of the house.
YOU ARE READING
The Hues
FantasySeparated by colored markings upon their wrists, members of the city are forbidden to communicate with those of other hues. It's been this way for as long as anyone can remember, so what happens when one Holland Aspen questions why?
