Ruby and Periwinkle

Today we were assigned a project in class. It’s stupid really. The teacher wants us to write our idea of a perfect world. What’s the point of writing our idea of a perfect world if it will never happen? My life kind of sucks right now, it’s like the teacher knows that I’m moving in with my new foster family today and assigned this on purpose to rub a nonexistent world in my face. Either way, I’m afraid because the last one didn’t work out so well. Fingers crossed. I sat in the office, twiddling my thumbs, tapping my foot. They burst into the room with glee. They seemed super nice. The mom had long brown hair, blue eyes and a contagious smile. She even had wrinkles at the sides of her eyes, so I could tell she laughs a lot. The father also had brown hair, with specks of grey. He looked a lot older than his wife, but very kind hearted. The daughter had short brown hair, and looked to be about my age. She gave me a reassuring smile and stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you, my name is Janet!” She said brightly. “I’m Madison,” I said softly. “Cool! These are my parents, Mark and Joanna.” “It’s so nice to finally meet you! We’ve spent the whole day preparing your room” they said excitedly. I was in shock. The foster families I know usually throw me into an empty cold room. “Thank you so much” I said with gratitude. They took me to their house. It took four hours because they live out in the middle of nowhere- literally. The whole way there all I saw were fields of corn and cows. I kept track of all the highways we traveled on just in case they turned out to be murderous kidnappers. You never know with some people. As I stepped outside the car, I stretched my legs. Janet chuckled, “Not used to long car rides? It’s okay, I don’t like them much either, but we have to make them frequently to get supplies.” “Supplies for what?” I inquired. Her parents raced up towards us, “What are you guys talking about?” They asked. “Nothing, just about the car ride,” answered Janet quickly. I looked over at her, realizing she isn’t supposed to talk about the “supplies”- whatever that means. I walked into the house. It was decorated beautifully. I looked in the kitchen at a butterfly flapping its wings. I reached my hand out to catch it. Before I could even close my fist it landed on my thumb. It was periwinkle, my favorite. “I wish I was a butterfly,” I thought to myself. All of a sudden, shades of periwinkle and midnight blue started inching up my hands and arms like paint being poured onto a canvas. I didn’t make a sound because oddly enough, I wasn’t afraid. For the first time in what feels like forever, I ​wasn’t

​ scared. Joanna popped into the room “How do you like the house?” The butterfly disappeared, along with the colors. “It’s really nice. I love the way it’s decorated,” I said with a bit more confidence in my voice. 

She smiled widely, “Thank you. We spent a lot of time decorating; this is our ​forever house,” her face was straightened by the end of her sentence. “Oh. Cool.” “Well I’ll go ahead and show you your room.” My room was huge, and consisting of only the basics. A nightstand, drawers and a bed. “Well, I hope you like it,” she said, giving me a warm side hug. After I sat my bags down. I got into bed and shut my eyes, drifting off into sleep immediately. Knock knock knock.

​ I rose up suddenly and checked the time- 1:27 AM. I rubbed my eyes and got up swiftly. I must stay alert- just in case. I walked into the kitchen to find Janet hitting the kitchen wall. “What are you doing?” I hissed. “I want to show you,” she said softly. “Show me what?” Knock knock knock. 

​ All of a sudden a rainbow started protruding out of the wall. “Step inside,” she said, holding out her hand. I grabbed it and walked through, completely trusting her. We were both in a field filled by ruby flowers and periwinkle butterflies. It was so sunny, and the weather was perfect with a slight breeze. “It’s so beautiful. What is this place?” I asked, with tears in my eyes. My breath was taken away. “My family and I have the ability to control what people can see. It can only be channeled through certain- things.” “Like what- are you talking about the supplies?” Her eyes darted away from mine. “I’m not allowed to talk about it… let’s talk about you, and your life. Why did you move in with our family, what’s wrong with yours?” I chuckled uncomfortably because of how frank she was, “Well, my parents are both always busy with work, but when they are home, they can be a bit difficult,” I said timidly. “What do you mean by difficult?” “They yell often. They leave me alone a lot. Sometimes things get a bit physical. Sometimes I wish I had different parents. I love them, but I feel like I don’t know them well. I wish I had parents who truly love me. I also wish I had siblings to get me through it. It’s difficult to say, but I want an actual family where I feel ​safe.” She looked at me with love and comfort. I’ve never told anyone about this before. I feel so comfortable and safe here, even if I’m seeing things, at least they are good. For once, I don’t mind being in this place. She wrapped her arms around me, “I can be like your sister. Don’t worry.” “Thank you for showing me this place, I feel so much more at peace.” We climbed back through the wall and standing over us were her parents. Janet looked at me and then grabbed me. We both sprinted the opposite direction. Her parents started to run after us. We finally hid in a dark shed a couple hundred feet from the house. I locked the door, “Janet, if you’re like my sister you’ll tell me what’s going on right now. Why were your parents chasing us and why are you afraid of them?” 

Tears were streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry Madison. You don’t deserve this, you need a safe place. You deserve to be a butterfly.” I thought about what she said for a moment and then all of a sudden the shed disappeared. Her and her parents were standing above me, smiling. “But you can’t have that,” her dad said as they inched towards me. “Good job Janet, we got another one,” her mom said. I looked around me quickly, realizing I was in the basement all along. All of them held a knife, inching toward me. “It’s time to collect our supplies.” “But Janet, I thought-”