All I Saw Were Colors.

All I saw were colors. 

I had five minutes. The “Ocean” was a magnificent shade of blue. It was vast and fresh. It smelled salty. I walked up to it. The ground below me was soft and tan. As I got closer to the Ocean, the ground became more stiff. Sand.

Carefully, I touched it. Cold. It was cold. Cold, yet comforting. I placed my foot in the Ocean. I could feel the Sand under my feet. It was soft again. I put my other foot into the Ocean. It felt refreshing.

I looked up. The sky was blue. Clumps of white floated amongst the sky. 

The clumps were funny. None of them were the same. It was difficult to make out what they were. One looked like a square. Another looked like those extinct animals, the ones with the long necks.

There was also a whit or yellow light, the color was difficult to make out. I tried looking at the light. I couldn’t. Every time I tried, I had to look away. It almost forced me to with its bright beams.

I was going to make the most out of this. I sat down in the Ocean. My uniform was soaking, and it felt uncomfortable. I’ve never been uncomfortable. But the feeling was worth the joy. The Ocean kept coming over on me. It soaked up into the Sand. Where did the water come from? Where did it go when it disappeared into the sand? 

I felt the Sand underneath the water. It was softer. I used my hand and grabbed a fistful. It was brown, like the sand right next to the Ocean. But underwater, the texture was identical to the one away from the Ocean, with the exception of being less dry. 

I threw my head underneath the Ocean. My eyes started to burn and water invaded my lungs. I popped back up from the Ocean, swallowing the water, breathing heavily. The water was salty and somewhat tasty.

Was it okay to drink the Ocean? There’s so much of it, I’m sure it doesn’t mind.

I decided to put my head back into the ocean, only this time I allowed my eyes and nose to stay above in order to breathe. I looked back up at the sky. I was floating in the Ocean. It felt nice. Everything was hot but the ocean.

Why couldn’t I live here? Floating for an eternity sounded amazing. 

I looked at my watch. Five seconds.

The Ocean was kind to me. It was refreshing. It made me feel alive.

Four seconds.

The sand was soft and hot. It was comforting when it got stuck in between your toes.

Three seconds.

The water was beautiful. It was cool and misty and made me relaxed yet infinite.

Two seconds. 

The sky was nothing I’ve ever seen before. The white clumps were funny and the bright beam was intriguing.

One second.

I didn’t want to go back. The Ocean felt like home.

I jolted awake. I looked around the blank white room to see my parents, younger brother, and the doctor.

“Did you see the Ocean?” He asked me.

I nodded.

“And how was it?”

I looked to my parents. They firmly nodded. I knew what to say.

“Something I should never want to see.” 

“Exactly. Come back tomorrow if you are having troubling thoughts about the Ocean. It’s not easy to look at,” He tells me.

“Yes sir.”

I get up and walk out of the small room with my family. 

“Was it scary?” My little brother asks, tugging on my dress as we walk down the hallway.

“Don’t trouble your sister. She just went through a terrifying five minutes.” My father scolds.

“You’ll be fine when your time comes.” I mutter.

“It’s something everyone must do on their fifteenth birthday. For me it was a flower field. For your father it was a…” 

“A firework show,” My father shudders, finishing my mother’s thoughts.

“Right,” my mother says. “Now let’s go celebrate. Happy 15th birthday, sweetheart.”

She opens the door. All I saw was gray.

The next day, I went back to the same building. The door opened as I was faced with the scientist. I took a seat on a white chair.

"How are you holding up?" He asks.

"Just...fine, sir. Just fine." I reply quietly.

"Are you sure? The Ocean is probably the worst reality a citizen can see. Most of the citizens who have wanted to go outside the Covid barriers are those who have seen the Ocean."

"Oh. I couldn't see why."

"I could. You see, when I was fifteen, I saw the Ocean. It was marvelous, wasn't it?"

I look up at him and smile.

"It..it was! The Ocean was cold and refreshing! And there were these clumps of white, they looked like different shapes. One even looked like an extinct animal I've learned in school. The one with the long neck? And there was this light! I'm not sure if it was yellow or white, it was hard to tell the difference, but-"

I stopped. He wasn't smiling anymore. He looked furious.

"Sir?"

He pressed a button. My hands and legs were cuffed onto the chair.

"Sir, what's going on?!" I ask, frantically.

"You're not supposed to like the reality. It's supposed to scare you away, not draw you into it. We can't have you going around telling everyone how beautiful the realities are," he says, putting on gloves.

"W-What are you going to do to me?" I yell, struggling to get out of the chair.

"Doing what I have to. Saving the community. You've learned about Covid-19. It killed almost everyone."

"But that was hundreds of years ag- AHH!!" I'm injected with a long needle bearing serum.

"Happy birthday. I'm sorry you've only lasted a day." He says to me, walking out of the room.

Everything is so blurry. The room spins. I'm losing reality. I see a light, and close my eyes.

"All I wanted was to see the colors.." I whisper.