stories i'll never finish.

i.

my second grade teacher liked to ask us; "How do you feel today, on a scale of one to ten?" ten always meant "I'm super, thank you." and one was always "Not today, Mrs. Sanborn, not today." but I never liked numbers. they would always twist and rebel against me, so I chose go speak in colors instead.

January 3rd: I am the color of mint chocolate chip ice cream, but I've eaten all the chocolate chips. I am calm.
February 7th: I am a bruise of blues and violets today. I think it would be best if I sat by the windows. these are unhappy colors.
April 11th: I am turquoise, I am magenta. I am every color of the rainbow.
April 30th: I am gray, I am silent.
May 1st: I am orange, the color of melting creamsicles on a beach in the middle of summer.
June 12th: I am as yellow as the school bus that will bring me home to summer. I am free.

twelve years later, I still use colors:
• the winter makes me feel pure white.
• the ocean turns me seafoam green.
• violets and purples make me uneasy and scarlet is a fever of fury.
• some nights I drown in shades of navy, denim, cornflower blue. but other nights I meditate in forests of harlequin and shamrock.

but you, you leave me a blinking white followed by a soft yellow; the color of sunlight after a period of darkness.