Red
Rain, cold, sad rain poured down on the sidewalk outside of Silvia’s apartment window.
She opened her eyes, turned the handle of the window and opened it.
“Creak”-
The opening was barely a crack, but it let the humid air in, along with the delayed smoke from the power plants this morning.
The choking smell filled the room, the gray fumes tumbling over each other.
Her father should be home by now. It was late. 3 hours after dinner. 3 hours overtime.
Curled in a ball, she ran her long manicured fingers through her bleached hair, pulling it down from a messy bun.
The hair spilled down to her waist, covering her head and entire body.
Day 154
Since her construction worker stepfather died in the chemical fire at the plants
Silvia’s days blurred, and were hardly countable. Maybe in weeks.
Green.
That used to be her favorite color.
Red
Silvia hated it.
The word and the color. So loud, disturbing and bright it hurt her eyes.
Like fluorescent firetrucks screaming past, like the flames, burning everything that dared to cross its path. Like the news page writing about the factory plant fire that gained attention for a week, then no one cared anymore.
Then the world around her changed. It spun so quickly it could make it difficult to get out of bed at noon.
Slowly the apples turned red
the mixed tropical punch transformed from a dark green to a crimson color
the sky turned into a deep, unsettling shade of pink
And there was nothing she could do about it.
Sinking deeper and deeper
in
red
Filling her
from
the inside…….
