World of Color | Skephalo

III

Light leaked through the dark grey curtains pulled in front of Zak's window, landing directly on his face as he slept. The brightness caused him to stir, stretching slightly as he sat up. He rubbed his face and looked at the alarm clock sitting on his nightstand. The time read 7:34, which meant he needed to get up and get ready for his day at work. He was working a full shift again today in order to make overtime pay.

He groggily pulled himself out of bed and over to his closet, where he threw on a light blue sweatshirt and black sweatpants, as per the labels. He didn't feel like looking good today, especially after last night.

As Zak finished getting ready, he fluffed his hair up with his hands and lightly tapped his fingers against his cheeks to force himself awake. He then shuffled down the grey hallway to the kitchen, just like he did every morning. Everything he did was a routine, and he was sick of it.

When he got to the table, he noticed both his sister and mother weren't present. Glancing around, he found a note folded on the table with his name written in his mother's handwriting.

Good morning, sweetie. I hope you put on something that matches. I don't want you running around the city in red and green like Christmas. I hope you don't mind, but I'm taking Callie to school early today because she has a test she needs to retake. I made some pancakes, they're on the stove in the pan with the cover. Be safe and have a great day at work.

Love you always,
Mom

Zak sighed, running his hand through his dark hair. He glanced at the stove where a pan was sitting. He lifted the lid and looked inside at the pancakes his mom had made. He smiled a little, grabbing a plate from the cabinet and putting the pancakes on it.

As Zak ate, he thought about what his sister had told him last night. She had found her soulmate. Of course, it had been completely by chance, the same as Vincent. Still, it bothered Zak more than he could describe.

He wanted nothing more than to find his own.

The harder he thought, the more he realized he needed to change his routine. Doing the same exact thing every day would most likely cause him to never find his soulmate. He would need to start changing things about his life in order to encounter them.

Today wasn't that day though, since he needed to head to work.

"I guess tomorrow can be that day," he sighed to himself as he cleaned his plate off and moved to the front door. He slid on his grey shoes and headed out the door, kicking himself into the same routine as always.

Like every other day, he stuck in his headphones and pulled his hood up, tuning out the grey world around him.

As always, he stared at the grey sidewalk as grey and black clothing blurred around him from the people that walked by.

Like he usually did, he made the 20 minute walk to the subway station and headed down the grey cement stairs to the platform.

Like every other day, he passed through the turnstiles and waited for the passengers to flood off the train.

Like usual, he stepped onto the subway car and sat in one of the only available seats, leaning his head back against the glass.

As always, he ignored the people around him until the train stopped at the station he needed and he shoved through the people to get off.

Like every other day, he shuffled up the steps to the busy street above, where grey and black blurred around him again.

Like he always did, he made the couple-block walk to the store and unlocked the door.

Just as he did every day, he got the store ready to open, turning on the lights and signs and counting the money in the register.

Finally, just like every day, he sat behind the counter and stared at the grey posters on the wall, wondering when something would change.

"Can something please be different today?" He mumbled to himself, though he knew the answer already.

Just as Zak expected, the day went on as normal. Customers trickled in here and there, some buying things, others not. Occasionally, he'd get a question about which game was good for a grandchild or sibling for their birthday, and today he was too upset to recommend anything other than Minecraft. People were beginning to become visibly frustrated with him as he monotonously checked them out or gave them an answer, though no one said anything.

Around 11:30am, Vincent came in again for his shift, and noticed Zak seemed down. He tried his best to cheer him up, talking about new video games or new shows he found that he really enjoyed, offering to play with Zak sometime. Obviously, he refused.

The day went on as normal; Vincent left when it began to get slow, Zak wandered around the store, and barely any customers came in.

As always, the man which Zak didn't know the name of, came in around 7:30pm and wandered for a few minutes. A certain game on a shelve on the wall caught his eye, and he picked it up. Zak noticed him flip it around to the back and read the description carefully before he decided he was going to purchase that one today.

The man made his way over to the register and set the game down, pulling out his wallet. Zak eyed him curiously as he picked the game up off the counter and scanned it.

"That'll be 21.02 today," Zak recited to the man as he flipped to the next screen on the computer. "Would you like a bag?"

The man shook his head silently and pulled out cash from his wallet.

"You know, you're in here a lot and you never speak to me. Could I at least get your name? It's okay if you don't want to tell me, but I just feel like as a regular, I should be addressing you less formally than 'sir'," Zak spoke, waiting for the man to count out his money.

The man looked up and paused for a moment before he spoke, "My name? My name is Darryl."

Zak smiled as the man spoke, he had never heard his voice before. It seemed higher than he expected, but maybe he only expected something deeper because the man always dressed very darkly.

"Nice to meet you Darryl, my name is Zak."

Darryl handed Zak the cash, and as Zak went to take it from him, their fingers brushed.

Suddenly, the world lit up with color.

The grey walls around him turned into a navy blue, the counter into a deep brown. Darryl's hair turned from a medium grey into a light brown shade, his eyes a light green. His skin was pale, much paler than Zak's. His sweatshirt was black with red stripes, and his pants were, in fact, a very dark grey.

The world outside turned from a dark grey to a dark blue, and Zak could see the sun's rays were a golden hue, casting light on everything around it as the sun set for the day.

Then, he looked back in front of him, to the man who caused it.

Darryl stared, wide-eyed at Zak. They stared at each other for a moment before Darryl turned on his heel and ran out, leaving his bag, and Zak, behind.

Today was different.