Chapter 2 (1/2)
When he was a young boy, he believed that the colour of the entire world was green.
People were green-coloured. The streets were in the refres.h.i.+ng colours of the gra.s.s. Animals were deep green, skies were yellowish green - no matter where he looked, he found the spectrum of green plastered all over the world.
One of the early memories he had, was him paying a visit to a local zoo with his mother and his siblings.
Rather than walking around to look into the enclosures, he got on a tour bus along with his mom. The bus then entered an artificial safari. Paper bags filled with meat were hanging from the side of the vehicle.
The seat right next to the window was occupied by his eldest brother; while mom's thighs were taken over by his younger sister, only two years old back then. He recalled that he might've been feeling a little down that day, being unable to sit alongside with them, being the middle child and all.
Soon, the bus came to a stop in a field.
The animals, wild beasts, stopped lounging around in the field and on the rocky outcroppings as soon as they saw the bus and slowly made their way over here.
The animals s.h.i.+ning in green began competing for the food. Seeing them jumping up and down reminded the boy of the game 'Whack A Mole,' so he ended up giggling out ever so slightly.
It was then.
There was one animal. Just one. It sat all alone on the top of the boulder like the king of pride, as the blinding and radiant sunlight bounced off of its hide.
The boy's smile was wiped away in an instant. Why?
'The colour….?'
Unlike just about every other lifeform he had seen, it was not 'green'.
Maybe the beast sensed the boy's gaze? The eyes of the animal directly landed on the boy.
The boy stared back in pure trance, before an unfamiliar fear took a hold of him.
He quickly averted his gaze as dictated by his instincts. His breathing became shallow and difficult. His hands shook, so did his entire body. His heart pounded away in a frenzy. But, even as the feeling of terror gripped him tight, a terror no boy his age should've been able to contend with, a question still floated up to the top of his mind.
Why is that animal not green?
No, no. I must've have made a mistake.
The boy took big, big breaths and lifted his head to take a look outside again.
Then, it happened.
The window violently shook.
The animal should have been so, so far away, yet when did it approach the bus? And why did it ignore the meat and only aimed at one single window?
The beast bared its fangs and repeatedly tried to chew on the window frame right next to the boy.
The boy couldn't understand what had transpired here in the proverbial blink of an eye. No. But he still managed to hide away in fright.
I need to run away.
Why is the bus still not moving?
I'm scared. I want to get away from here.
Mom? Mom. Mom! Mom!!
Just as he was about to burst into tears, a warm and gentle hand carefully s.h.i.+elded his eyes.
”You must've been really frightened, weren't you?”
Her voice was as warm and gentle as the breeze of the late Spring.
Her words were brief, yet the boy instantly felt relaxed and comfortable. The boy jumped into the embrace of this woman without even looking up to see who it was.
”There, there now. It's going to be alright. They have all moved away now…. Ah, the bus is moving again.”
She gently patted his back. Her hands felt soft and ethereal. Even the boy's heavy breathing became softer and relaxed.
Only then did the boy raise his head to take a look.
”Uh?”
Suddenly, her patting hands came to a stand still. She brought her face closer to the boy's, then she started studying him with much curiosity, before gasping out in surprise.
”Oh, my goodness me…. Really, now….”
When the boy tilted his head in confusion, the woman began to gently laugh.
”Your eyes. They are very beautiful.”
My eyes?
”Yes. They are beautiful. In the seven shades of the rainbow.”
The boy stared at her in confused silence, but she simply maintained her gentle laughter. Then, she let out a soft and wistful sigh.
”Only if you were a little older…. No. Perhaps, it might be better if you grow up not being aware of it.”
Before long, the safari tour had come to an end. The pa.s.sengers began disembarking, one by one, but the boy showed no sign of separating from the woman. Even she too hesitated, as if there was something with the boy that's holding her back.
She whispered to his ear.
”What is your name?”
”It, it's Seol…”
”Seol, is it? It's a pretty name.”
She then met the gaze of the mumbling boy and his blus.h.i.+ng cheeks.
”I want to ask you something…. When you are just a little bit older…. If we somehow encounter each other again in the future, will you come with me?”
”With you, noona?”
”Yes. I'll definitely help you if you run into trouble in the future.”
Although he couldn't understand the context of her promise, the boy still silently nodded his head within the arms of the woman.
Soon, the voices of mom and his sister searching for the boy could be heard.
”Okay, I promise.”
A soft sensation touched his forehead before it disappeared.
”Let us meet again, little prince.”
As the boy departed from the bus while being accompanied by his mom, he continued to look behind him.
The woman was smiling brightly and waved her hands goodbye, until the boy was out of her sight.
Time moved on, and the boy became an adult. He had grown to the point that the special memories from that day had become faint and indistinct.
He lost the fear of the wild animals after he got older and perhaps, with just a bit of wisdom/foolhardiness getting to his head. It was here that he began to earnestly research his special condition.
What was this strange condition of his?
Why did he possess something no one else seemingly possessed?