Colored Full of Trauma

No More. 💙

Prologue 2.

Do you remember when I said that the stronger the trauma, the stronger the ability? Well, that's not true by itself. Strength also comes from how you deal with it. And the ability itself doesn't just come from the trauma, such as how Tommy was beaten for years and his ability only showed up when he finally broke free from that. That's kind of what we'll see with our second character too, spoilers.

Her name is Zoey. In the current timeline she is 23, almost the same age as Tommy. However, unlike Tommy, Zoey is a lot more mentally stable now-a-days. She's kind, caring, loving, and super selfless. But as a kid? She was confused.

Let's begin.

Zoey's mother left when she was a very young girl. She'd never truly met her, she just saw how heartbroken it made her father, persisting for even years after. Her father was a lonely man, and Zoey realized how strongly he clung to her mother being gone. It hurt her to see. She didn't understand all of it, she just knew daddy would pick her up from school, acting silly and holding a rattling bottle in his hand. More drugs, fun.

He never hit her, or said anything mean to her. In fact, he was really nice to her, and always told her that he loved her more than anything. When they'd get home, he'd help her with homework (but to be honest, he struggled with it more than her.), Then he'd sit in front of of the TV in his reclining chair, drink out of the pill bottle like the insides were liquid, then fall asleep for very long lengths of time, often worrying Zoey that he might not even wake up.

At nights, she'd clean up the nearly empty plastic bottles that had a tendency to pile up. Not minding, it helped distract her from the loneliness.

"Maid Zoey!"
She'd playfully shout.

Next was to cook herself something, and eat it while coloring a picture. Always using 2 colors exclusively because her favorite was pink, and her dad's was light blue.

Until finally, she'd grab her unicorn blankey, climb up the recliner, and fall asleep on her dad's "chubby tummy" as she called it. She loved him so much.

Then, the day arrived.

All around her school, whispers were heard between teachers, then between students.

"Johnny isn't here today. Do you know why?" A little girl says to Zoey, who's sitting quietly at her desk.

Zoey simply shakes her head no, and continues working.

"I heard that his sister went to the emergency room. That's at the hospital."
A boy to her left chimes in.

Sat between them, they talk back and forth. Zoey pays little attention. That is... until the word "overdose" enters her tiny ears.

She looks to the girl's face. The word seems familiar. Maybe it's been said on the news?

"What is that?" Zoey asks

The girl glances back at her, and insensitively says

"It's when somebody takes too many pills."

...

Zoey looks back down to her paper. A picture of her and dad cuddling together is drawn, with a 2-colored heart surrounding it.

"Daddy takes a lot of pills..."

She thought about it all day, and even continued to until the second he picked her up. He hadn't yet opened his new bottle for the day, he usually saves it for when they get home. Zoey grew even more anxious as they got close to their little house.

They went inside, her father grabbed an apple from the fridge for her, and they sat down at the kitchen table to do homework together. After a bit of time, he began to struggle with the work, Zoey noticed it too.

"I think daddy needs to sit down for a bit, okay Zoe?" He said, as he patted her on the shoulder.

"Okie. I think I can do the rest :)"
She said.

He smiled, proud of her. She smiled back to him.

She continued working on her homework as she heard the familiar sound of the recliner, and the rattle of the pill bottle behind her. The TV turned on, and the bottle opened. She started to shake.

"What if daddy ends up like that girl...?" Those words repeated in her mind. The pills rattled more as he tilted the bottle into his mouth.

"no. . . no . . . NO!!!" She jolted up, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her wooden chair hit the floor as she turned around. Pointing her hand towards her father, a bright blue light began to glow from the left side of her chest, shining through her shirt. She felt that light inside her, flowing down into her raised arm.

"I don't want my daddy to go to the hospital!" She shouted, as a tear fell from her face.

The bottle in her father's hand went flying, then crashing into the wall as the pills spilled out everywhere. He looked to his daughter, recognizing that his sweet little angel had developed an ability all because of him.

From then on, he became the man that he wanted to be, and what Zoey needed him to be. It was easy once he realized that he could never be lonely with her by his side. And so, as Zoey grew older, she used her power less and less every day until one day, she could barely feel it's energy anymore. The crystal was still there, but as all the bad memories of her father faded slowly, so did her ability.

To Be Continued.