Street Magic: Alicia's Story

Yellow

I hate yellow.

The color suits me, others say, tan skin and black curls and all. I remember liking it myself, when I was a child. When "all the bad things in the world" were simply rumors, and all that mattered in my life was my family, the beach and the sun. It has turned.

Today, the concept of a happy family makes me laugh, bitter and hard, void of any joy. "All the bad things in the world" have become my reality instead.

And it started with yellow.

*

2000

The first thing I thought of when I came to was a rubber duck.

My eyes fluttered open slowly. Yellow filled my vision, a bright canary yellow like a solid wall.

I smelled an artificial scent, like metal and rubber, and a strange taste was lingering on my tongue.

My body hurt, my muscles aching as if I had been exercising for days. I groaned and tried to lift my arms.

Two things happened. A sudden pain ripped through my right wrist, when a handcuff dug deep into it. And the yellow before my eyes gave way to a small room, rather a cell, and two faces considering me with some sort of friendly academic interest.

I tried to fight back the nausea that started to spread in my stomach. I couldn't remember how I got here. I didn't know these people, or this place.

My jeans and shirt were gone. Instead, I was dressed in a yellow overall.

That explained the color. I must have had my arm laying across my eyes, while I slept. The arm that wasn't tied to the hospital bed. The arm that, instead of the handcuffs, had a IV leading into it.

I stared at my arms numbly. I should panic, I thought. Panic would be an appropriate reaction. But I just felt tired and exhausted.

"Miss Rivera", one of the women said, a short one with a blond bob. "You might wonder, where you are."

I didn't reply. I wouldn't trust my voice. Plus, she seemed like she'd tell me anyway.

"You are safe now. This is the Ainsvillle Academy. We focus on students with special... conditions. Such as yours."

"What...", I asked weakly. "What condition?"

"Magic." The reply from the older woman came sharp and short. "You're a danger to yourself and others."

The blond woman shot her a short glance, before she added. "We will provide you with the best possible care. Keep you safe. And teach you, how to deal with it. We firmly believe that, given proper attention and the right education, you will be able to serve our country well."

I stared at my overall and the handcuffs. "Am I a prisoner?", I asked.

"We don't imprison children", the younger woman said. "You're a student, Miss Rivera."

They lied, of course.

I was a prisoner.

Three years of my life, I was being drugged, brainwashed and experimented on.

Three years of my life I spent in an yellow overall.

And whenever I see a glimpse of yellow, a part of me is taken back there.