Vindtem

He Might Claim To See Color

I sat at my desk tapping my pencil against the leg of the desk. I looked at the clock again, only five minutes had passed. This week at school is Vindtem Awareness week. I have always hated this week. I feel an odd connection to the word Vindtem. It means quite bluntly one who can see color. Of course, this connection is a silly fantasy, seeing as only boys have Vindtem.

"Now children we have decided you are old enough to learn about the symptoms of Vindtem. So when you have sons you can make sure they aren't lagging behind!" Mr.Lomias handed out a paper. "By the end of this week, I expect this whole worksheet to be filled out with different symptoms and information on Vindtem." I groaned. I didn't want to look up stupid symptoms for stupid hypothetical children. "And the person with the highest grade gets a week off homework!" Suddenly this assignment sounded great. The bell rang and I raced to the bus eager to start this assignment.

"Hello, Avery!" My mother was baking something.

"Hi, mother! I have to go do this homework assignment it's super cool!" I ran up the stairs. I could have sworn she said something, but I wasn't going to stick around to hear it. I went up to my laptop and googled 'Symptoms of Vindtem'. I pressed the first link that popped up.

'Signs your son has Vindtem.

He claims to see color

He does self-stimulating motions to regulate his emotions

He doesn't attempt to adhere to gender norms

He has hyper empathy

He tends to notice small details

He often dives headfirst into special interest, some might be considered not age-appropriate

I knew exactly how I would write this paper so it's the best. I would focus on these key symptoms to an extreme extent. Starting with claims to see color. I grabbed my blue pen already knowing how I was going to color code this. Of course, I can't see the actual color. Only boys with Vindtem know what colors look like, and I am not one of those freaks. I just understand what the colors look like. That's why my room is painted yellow, and I always draw the sky blue and know my skin is the shade of honey. I quickly grabbed a blank notebook and labeled the page 'Claiming to See Colors'. Before diving headfirst into an internet search on why.

"Avery! Dinner time!" I was shocked hours had passed already. My hands were covered in marker colors of all shades. I raced downstairs to wash them before my parents saw them. We sat down and said a prayer before we ate.

"What did you do today Avery?" My father asked with a big piece of broccoli stuck in his most left tooth that I could see.

"Oh, we are learning about Vindtem this week at school. Did you know researchers suspect that the presence of Vindtem in the brain makes the cones, the part of your eye that processes color, activate?" I was trying to not look at the piece of broccoli still lodged in his teeth

"I did not know that, did your teachers tell you that?" My mother smiled at me, I didn't really like her smile it was a little lopsided to the right.

"No we have a research paper on it so I was researching it."

"Well look at our little go-getter! Someone has got to help those poor vidtemenim boys with their issues!" My mother extended her smile so it was even more lopsided. I ate my food as quickly as possible so I could escape broccoli Byron and lopsided Louise. I quickly excused myself from the table so I could go back to my homework. I looked at my notebook, my color-coded notebook. Under the subsection of claims to see colors I had things that matched all the different colors listed and then facts about cones and other things. I had to wonder what it would be like to have Vindtem. It must be nice to be so open and free.

'Vindtem is not a disease.'

I saw that headline and it stuck out to me so I pressed it. You see vindtem is treated a lot like a disease. When someone's son is diagnosed you tell them how sorry you are. I wondered what this article had to say.

'I live my everyday life with Vindtem. I am not sick. I am just disabled.' I heard my parents coming upstairs, I quickly shut the computer off since it was hours after my bedtime. I quietly wrote down the link in my notebook before closing my eyes, dreaming of the freedom vidtemenim people must experience.