FOUR HOUSES

Part 1

I whip around to see what has stopped them.

And I spot him.

His hair is black and his skin is tanned. He looks to be my age, in that chaotic place between a man and a boy. As he moves toward me, the people hover close to the ground and watch him approach. I stand still as he circles my body. Stopping behind me-his nose near my neck-he inhales.

When he comes in front of me, I have to tilt my head back to see his face. I notice his eyes. They aren't like the others. They're green and alive and they make me want to close my own. A smile plays on his lips.

The boy waves his hand over the floor and the people rush even farther out of the way, press themselves against the walls and cower. I don't know what will happen next, but I find myself shivering with anticipation. All at once, the house begins to tremble as if it's mimicking the shaking in my body.

I grab onto the boy as the floor splits open.

He seems almost amused by my fear, but holds me tight anyway.

When the ground stops rumbling, a tree begins to grow from between the crevice. It pushes upward toward the two-story ceiling and then branches and grows a head full of red and orange leaves. Fall colors, though I can't remember whether that's right. If the time of year fits the foliage.

I can't understand how this is happening, and I fight the urge to run. To flee this deceitful magic that can't be real. But I'm rooted in place, staring at the wild fruit blooming from the branches. They're perfectly round and each one is different color. When the boy motions toward the fruit, encouraging me to try one, I'm not sure I can. I've barely recovered from the fact that a tree appeared from nowhere. But I find myself stepping cautiously toward it anyway, tongue pressed between my lips in concentration.

A yellow orb hangs down like an apple ripe for the plucking. Though my heart races, my body gains confidence, and before I can stop myself that yellow orb is in my hand. I glance around the room and the dancers watch me with fervor etched along their faces. Nothing I experience from this point on can be as bad as the house with the green door, and my curiosity begs to be quenched...

So I bite into the strange fruit.

As soon as my teeth touched the globe it bursts with a blinding light and then recedes. I recover quickly from the surprise, chew, and swallow. A tidal wave of emotions slams into me: Warmth. Happiness. Optimism. And something else? An entire vision. Me walking on the sand, the ocean slipping over my toes. Holding someone's hand. Whose? I don't know and I don't care. I love Yellow.

The boy takes the yellow globe from me and pantomimes that I should choose another. And so I do, one after another. I bit into Green next, and falter. Jealousy overwhelms every muscle, bone, tissue in my body. Why are there so many other people here taking this boy's attention from me? It should only be us, together. I eye the women in particular, blood lust pumping through my veins. The things I would do to ensure he remains mine.

Laughter explodes from the boy's chest, and my eyes snap to his. I want to hear that laugh again in this place where so little noise exists. In fact, I want to own that sound. No one else should get to hear it but me. I gaze down at the Green orb in my palm, half eaten, and wonder how much of this has to do with what I've consumed.

I take a piece of Blue fruit and bite into, anxious to chase the memory of envious Green from my mind. But now I'm drowning in a world of hurt. Not the physical kind. No, this pain lives in my mind. I recall without detail the tragedy my life has seen. I can't name places, or people, only that the sadness is thick and tangible inside my chest. My arms and legs weigh ten times what they once did, and if I don't try another fruit soon, I might return to the House of Content and sleep for eternity.