Lohikäärme

Chapter One - Color Blind

This is dedicated to my favorite author out there. She inspires me....a lot. I love her stories, and I love her so much. Oh, and, by the way, a physicker is like a doctor in their own time, something like that. Well, enough of my blah blahs. Here's the first chapter! :)

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Chapter One - Color Blind

          It had always started with chaos, people screaming my name. They were all afraid of the curse. They all hated the curse, but I was the curse itself.

          "BURN HER!"

          They would try everything to change it, but no one could change what was destined to happen. But there was one thing I know for sure.

          It would always end with the way it had begun.

  

          "And this one?" the middle-aged physicker asked, raising another piece of thick paper.

          I raised my gaze to look at the piece of paper he was holding, and even squinted my eyes to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Please, please, show yourselves, I mentally begged the words or numbers that I couldn't see in the piece of paper the physicker was holding. But I still couldn't see anything. All I could see were swirling colors on the paper, as well as everywhere else. I could see nothing but colors dancing around. Dissapointed once again, I shook my head. "No."

          The old physicker nodded his head in response, tapping his feet gently on the floor as he opened his notebook. He readjusted his glasses and scribbled something on his notebook—that was what they said it was—he always carried around, specifically inside our house. To be honest, I hadn't been outside the house ever since I was four.

          Since the day they found out that I was suffering from an illness no one could cure, my parents locked me in the house, saying it was the best for me. I never tried to get outside though. They were my parents, and all they wanted for me was the best. I trusted them, so why bother leaving the house?

          Years ago, I was sitting near my window inside my room, and, there, I saw my parents talking to the townspeople. There were torches and pitchforks. I didn't hear what they talked about. I just saw them from my room. The flames of their torches grinned evilly at me, and those pitchforks threatened to sink into my skin. They were really scary. My nights were filled with nightmares because of them. And that was around the time they found out about my color blindness. How would anyone handle that well?

          I was shook out of my trance when my father stood up from one of our wooden chairs, unable to wait for the physicker's statement any longer. "How is she?"

          The physicker sighed, shaking his head, "I'm terribly sorry, sir, but there is still no improvement. You really have to take her there."

          My mother burst into tears when she heard what the physicker said. Father put an arm around her and let her cry on his chest, but I still heard her sob; everyone did.

          There. I still had no idea what there was, where it was, but my mother would always cry whenever the topic was mentioned. I wish it wasn't that bad, I hoped.

          I trained my eyes on my lap, not looking at my parents. How could I? This was all happening because of me. They didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve to have a daughter like me, a daughter who brought nothing but misfortune to the family. Why was this happening? Why...? Why me? Of all people, why did it have to be me? If I hadn't been sick, we wouldn't have needed to isolate ourselves; we wouldn't have to live on our own, away from other people.

          Why did I have to be color blind? I didn't know what was so bad about my illness, but people seem to hate me so much because of that. I didn't hurt anyone. Why did... Why did they hate me?

          "We're really taking her there? Can't we wait for another month?" Father asked.

          I bit my lip. I'm not going to cry, I told myself. I shouldn't. It would make my parents feel worse. The least I could do was keep them from getting more worried. But I couldn't help it. I had spent my whole life here in this house, and, now, they were going to take me somewhere? I bit my lip again and hurriedly wiped a tear off my face, so no one would get worried.

          He took off his glasses as he shook his head, sighing. "I'm afraid you really have to take her there, sir. This is the last extension the magisters gave her, and, sadly, she hasn't shown a single sign of improvement ever since we started her tests." the physicker replied, receiving a small nod from my father. He wiped the lenses of his eyeglasses before putting them on again. He took his bag and, before leaving, apologized for not being able to help us anymore.

          My parents nodded slightly, bowed and said, "Thank you."

          We all knew that the physicker tried—no, did—his best to help us, to help me, and that was more than we were paying him for. For many years, the physicker had always been visiting and checking my vision every two weeks; after that, he'd give me a new jar of sharp-edged leaves that my mother would boil with water, then I'd drink the water. The test? It was pretty simple. He would ask me if I could see any words or numbers on the boards he showed me, then all I had to do was give him an honest answer. And, for the record, I hadn't seen any number or word yet in those years of taking those tests. All I saw were different colors dancing everywhere. Just like what I saw everywhere else. In fact, when I was younger, I always got so dizzy because the colors everywhere kept on moving. It didn't take a long time before I got used to it though. If I hadn't, I would've died of severe headache and mental breakdown.

          "Safia, pack your things," my mother told me, trying to clear herself of the emotions she was feeling. "Your clothes, your personal things, everything..."

          I nodded with respect and ran up the stairs to my room, leaving my parents downstairs. Obeying them was the only thing I could do to make them feel better. We didn't have any choice. As I had heard, this was the last extension they could give us. I slowly pushed my heavy, stone door and went inside.

          The first thing that came to my mind was my clothes. I slowly walked to my closet with long strides. I opened my closet and dumped all the clothes in my bag. I didn't know if I was glad that I could finally leave this house or relishing the last moments I could spend here in our house, the place I grew up in. Or perhaps I was feeling a mixture of both?

          After a few hours of packing things, I scanned my room again. The room still had my bed and my cabinet, but other than that, it was empty. My heart began to beat faster, and I couldn't help but smile.

           "This is it, Safia," I told myself, "Your life's finally going to change."

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This is my first full-English story that isn't a one-shot. The first chapter is a bit short, but the next one's longer. I finished the next chapter a while ago, so I think it'll get posted a few days later, depending on the feedback the first chapter gets. I hope you guys enjoy reading this story. By the way, it's based on a dream I had back in August. I loved it, and I need your support, guys!