Colour Blind

SOPHIE PETERSON
Colour Blind

Copyright © 2019 by Sophie Peterson
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“Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and
unallied with definite form, can speak to
the soul in a thousand different ways.”
- Oscar Wilde

Chapter 1
All her life, Alice Foster’s world has been a million shades
of black and white. Her days are as dark as her nights
and her summers as bleak as her winters. She was born
with Achromatopsia, a rare condition where those afflicted
suffer complete loss of colour vision. The condition is genetic,
though the only other person she knew who had it, was her
grandmother. When her grandmother died, Alice lost the only
other person in her life who saw things the same way she did.
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This put her in a sort of black and white bubble and she wouldn’t
let anybody get close to bursting it. She’d never been close to
her parents or her little brother Jacob, though of course she
loved them. Her bitterness about her condition and jealousy
of everyone around her meant that she pushed people away.
What she didn’t realise was that she was pushing away the only
colourful and bright parts of her life. Every day she became
more frustrated by her existence until one day, she snapped.
It was summertime and Alice’s friends encouraged her to go
to the woods with them for a picnic. Her parents made her
take Jacob and the dog with them too. The group walked for
a while through the knots of green trees and footpaths. Alice
walked a few steps behind the group to make sure they knew
she was in a bad mood. It had been exactly a year to that day
that her grandma had passed away. Her friend Emily hung back.
“What’s wrong? Do you want to talk about it?” Alice ignored
this kindness and said nothing, she didn’t even look up. Emily
got the message and left her alone. The group found a quiet spot
by the river. Her friends sat in a circle around a patch of daisies
with black centres, weaving the stems together into crowns and
necklaces. They asked her many times to come over and join
them but she refused to be pitied by them. Eventually she just
ignored them all together. They made her a daisy crown to try
and include her but she threw it into the grey water. Jess, one of
her other friends came over to her with two yellow buttercups
and handed one to Alice. “Do you like butter?” She giggled
and held her flower beneath Alice’s chin until it turned yellow.
“You love it! Now you do me!” She took Alice’s hand, the one
holding the buttercup, and guided it beneath her chin. Alice
snatched her hand away and Jess backed off. “Well how would
I know?” Alice’s tone was a warning to Jess who picked up the
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CHAPTER 1
buttercup and walked back to the group who were all watching
what happened. No one tried to talk to Alice after this.
They stayed till the sunlight began to shoot through the gaps
in the trees and hit them like stage lights. Jacob climbed one of
the taller trees to look at the view and shouted down harmlessly:
“The sunset from up here is amazing! You have to come and
see it the sky is so orange!” Alice broke. She stood up, light on
her cheeks, and yelled at her brother for pointing out the view
she’ll never see: “How could you be so insensitive? You’re so
stupid I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Alice I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.” Jess said to
calm her down.
“Don’t get involved Jess. You think you’re any better? Asking
me if I like butter when I can’t even see the flower. You all have
no idea what it’s like so just stop it. I don’t want your pity.”
Alice stormed off along the river. Her friends shouted after her
but she wasn’t going back. She cried and walked for a while
before sitting down next to the river. Staring into the water she
thought about her grandmother. What she would be saying to
her right now. Alice regretted what she’d said to her friends
and knew she’d have to go back and apologise. Just as she was
about to leave, she saw something flash in the water. Something
bright floating in the black river like a plane in the night sky.
The more she looked at it the brighter it got. Hypnotised, she
reached out towards the alien light and tried to touch it. As she
did, she was pulled into the water and floated there beneath
the surface for a while. With her eyes tightly closed she didn’t
notice the world above the surface changing around her. She
scrambled to stand and rubbed her eyes so she could open them.
* * *
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COLOUR BLIND
It hurt at first. The strength of it. The intensity of it. The beauty
of it. She had to keep blinking to help with the shock. Finally,
she was able to open her eyes completely. There were trees
all around her like the forest she was in before, but these ones
were painted with something that felt like calm, like fresh fruit
and vegetables. She knew this feeling was called green and the
feeling of it made her want to cry. Green was everywhere, in
the trees, on the ground, in the water. It was so natural and
effortless, like living. Then she looked up at the sky. It was
a soft colour she knew was called blue. Blue was different to
green; it was smoother and more peaceful like water or sleep.
Blue was something that made her feel lonely. Everything was
quieter with blue. Alice walked away from the river into the
forest to explore. The colours were everywhere. The trees were
cloaked in a beautiful dark brown bark. There were toadstools
around her feet a dangerous colour she knew must be red, it
was both so intense and enticing that she didn’t know whether
to stay away from it or get closer.
After walking around the forest her head began to ache and
she had to stop for a minute. She lay beneath a tree while the
grass tickled her ears and neck. Hours passed and it was just
her and the sky. Alice heard it sing to her. Songs of orange, red
and pink as it set behind the clouds. This was the first sunset
she had ever seen and it made her think of Jacob, yelling to her
about how beautiful it was. This made her angry still, she was
glad to be away from him.
Alice opened her eyes in the morning and for a moment, she’d
forgotten that she could see. Every morning she’d ever woken
up to had been grey and black. Alice was so happy and content
at this moment, the colours brought a warmth into her and
made her feel awake.
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CHAPTER 1
Across the meadow where she had slept, she saw patches of
yellow and white delicately decorating the ground like intricate
lace. Alice walked towards the strange white patches and as she
drew closer, she could see what they were: Small, dainty flowers
with white hair and vibrant yellow bellies. The flowers looked
so helpless as if a gust of wind would snap them in half and blow
away their petals. The flowers were wearing dresses of green
which came out from underneath them and floated down to the
grass. Alice sat beside them careful not to squash any and began
picking them gently one by one. She had watched her friends
do this for hours. Using her nail, she pierced a hole in the stalk
of the flower and threaded another through. Repeatedly she
did this until she joined the two ends together and placed the
crown upon her messy hair. Looking around for someone to
impress, she remembered she was alone still. Alice wished her
friends could see her creation. Thinking of them made her feel
that familiar blue feeling but she didn’t know why. She was in
a dream, she had everything she had ever wanted. So why was
she so sad.
As the day became evening, Alice went back to the tree
that she had slept under the night before and lay beneath the
branches. The daisies still covered her head and neck though
the petals were starting to fall away. Her eyes closed and her
world was black again making her feel strangely comforted.
When morning came again, Alice was covered in the dying
daisy chains wrapped around her neck and head. She shook
off the brown, crispy petals and started walking through the
forest to her house. It felt right to walk home. The path looked
familiar though of course it was in colour so there was an
unfamiliar chill to it. She walked for a while until eventually, she
came to the clearing where her house would be. But there was
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no house. No family. Nothing. It was too quiet and she didn’t
even notice or care about the colours of the trees or flowers.
Alice collapsed onto the floor and cried for a few moments until
suddenly, over the sound of her sobs, she heard something in
the bushes across the clearing. “Hello?” She said to fill the tense
silence. There was a loud bark before four small, golden paws
burst out of the tree line and raced towards her. Alice instantly
knew that it was her dog Harvey. She ran to meet him and
dropped to the floor as he licked her face and nuzzled into her
side. “What are you doing here huh?” It was the first time she
had properly seen his brown eyes and blonde fur but she didn’t
care. It was his familiar smell and softness that she had missed.
Cuddling Harvey, Alice stared into the forest hoping her family
would appear too, but no one did. She missed them terribly
and made the decision that it was time to go home.
When Alice woke up, Harvey was sitting beside her patiently
waiting to leave. They immediately began to make their way
back to the river. It took her a while to find it again, the forest
seemed busier. There were flowers blocking her path trying to
distract and chase her. Green roots were grabbing at her ankles,
demanding her attention. It was as if they didn’t want her to
leave. But Alice wouldn’t turn back, she ran faster, Harvey was
at her side protecting her.
When they came to the river, the water was bluer and brighter
than it had ever been. She stopped to think about her decision.
If she leaves, she will never see any of this again. Alice kneeled
beside her dog and stroked his fur making note of every golden
strand. Looking into his eyes she knew that she had to go home,
this wasn’t the real Harvey. She kissed his head “I’ll see you
soon boy.” Harvey whimpered as Alice stood up and walked
towards the water.
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CHAPTER 1
Alice closed her eyes and jumped, hoping that when she
opened them again, she would be home. She waited under
the water for a few seconds just to be sure and then surfaced,
rubbed her eyes, and opened them.
* * *
The trees were black, the sky was grey and the flowers were
white. Alice smiled for the first time in too long. It was beautiful.
Dripping from river water she ran to the spot where she had
left her friends but they weren’t there anymore. How long had
she been gone? Running faster she made her way down the
familiar colourless path. When she arrived at the clearing, a
crowd of people were in the garden, they looked worried. Alice
noticed that they were in the same clothes they were wearing
the day she left and the sky wasn’t much darker so she hadn’t
been gone long. Alice ran up to them and hugged as many as
she could hold in her embrace. “I’m sorry for how I behaved,
you were all just trying to be kind and I treated you so badly.”
Alice hoped they would accept her apology.
“It’s okay, we can’t imagine what it is like for you we were
just so worried. Where have you been?” Jess wondered.
“It’s a long story but I know what’s really important now.”
Alice hugged her friends and held them until she noticed
something glowing around them, it was a warm and vibrant
feeling, coming from their smiles and laughs, the comfort of
her friends was yellow as bright as the bellies of daisies. Maybe
her life didn’t have to be grey after all.
Alice went inside to find her parents who were in the kitchen
making dinner. Alice ran and threw herself around them: “I
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love you guys. I know I’ve been difficult. I’m sorry.” Her parents
hugged her back. Then Jacob ran into the kitchen with Harvey
and they both joined the embrace. “We love you too. But is
everything okay honey?” Her mother asked. Alice closed her
eyes with joy and as she did, she saw pink and purple and felt
it in her heart, she could see the colour of their love as clear
and as beautiful as the flowers in the forest. “Everything is so
colourful.” She replied.
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About the Author
I am currently at University studying Creative and Professional
Writing. I love writing anything from short stories to poetry
and song lyrics. I am most passionate about writing for children
and creating fun new characters and worlds.
You can connect with me on:
https://sophiepeterson2.wixsite.com/sophiepetersonauthor/colourblind
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