In the Absence of Color

Chapter 1

A splash the shade of the sky, just right, with a small drip oozing towards the brightness, the hue of the sun. I wipe a hand across my brow, shoot, I feel the paint running towards my eyes. I leap up and arch my back like I'm possessed while running towards the sink, terrified of the sting I have felt one hundred times too many. 

The phone rings, a quick splash of water and a blot of a dishrag. I skid to the phone. 

"Helloooo?" The 'o' drags like my impatience, from a quick glance at the clock it is only 4:16, who would be calling this early?

"Aura?" Callalyn.

"Hey Calla, why are you calling so early?"

"I just got some big news, and hey, don't act like I don't know your insane sleeping schedule" she replied, poking fun at my inability to wake up any later than 3:30 a.m. 

"True, so...should I drumroll?" I ask in anticipation.

"Go for it Sis"

"Hold on" I say as I sprint over to the table.

"Holding" she says as I begin to smack my hands on the table as quickly as I can. 

I opt for a big finish by smacking the bottom of my rubber cup on the table- forgetting that there is juice in it from yesterday. Shoot, that will have to get wiped off the ceiling later. 

"I got in to Hue state!" Calla squeals and I drop the cup with the remaining juice on the floor, fantastic. 

"No way? I'm so proud of you! It's really difficult to get in for Vet-science, you know." I respond while beginning to wipe up my mess.

"I'm so excited, Mom said we can get a two bedroom apartment next year and Dad said he has never been more proud of me! Which I haven't heard him say since my first set of perfect grades! We are going to have so much fun! Can you believe it's already April? We'll be living together in five months!"

"Do you have ANY oxygen left Calla?" I laugh "We are going to have a blast."

"I'm going to go wake up J with the news!" J was Calla speak for Jeremiah, who was her current beau. That was Calla though, flitting from fling to relationship with no level of seriousness. I was pretty sure the only reason she gave each of them a nickname was to make them feel special. 

Really, Calla just liked to have fun, and as soon as things got complicated she would cut her losses before any tragedy could strike. Calla told me once she was afraid to hurt anyone, but really I think she was just afraid of getting hurt. Veterinary science was perfect for her though, she loved animals much more than people. When we were young she used to scoop beetles out of the pool in our back yard as I recoiled at the thought of being within five feet of one. 

"Alright Calla call me later!"

"Will do, love ya!"

"And I you." I hung up the phone and walked back toward my painting, contemplating how to conjure the perfect shade for the lily I was painting. 

Long ago I had given up trying to understand the different hues I saw, it had become obvious that no one else saw them. I felt that there was something wrong with me, so I kept it tucked away like a secret, though even I had no knowledge of the truth.

I remember the first time I painted, not in Kindergarten in splotches and lines that I deemed were dogs and rainbows, but with a canvas and my hands. At the age of 11, I brought to life the tree in our backyard. 

I did not realize that the color was supposed to come out of the paint jars and spread with a brush, not straight from my fingertips.

My mother had come outside, unnoticed by me. 

"What are you doing?" she had asked.

"Thinking of the perfect shade for the leaves" I responded.

"What do you mean by a perfect shade? Does it really make that much of a difference?"

"Of course it makes a difference" I retorted, confused by her observation.

"Aura enough games please the shades barely have a slight-if any-difference"

"But I'm not-"

"I said enough. Lunch is almost ready, so wash the paint off your hands. Lovely painting by the way" 

The memory fades out as I stare at my clean hands, and the unopened paint.