Colour Blind
Flynn watched the baby as she wobbled across the stone floor, trying out her legs yet again. He was fascinated at the way she had mastered this at only 6 weeks of life. Most Lihnari didn’t even try to walk until around the 10th week of life. She was a fast one to learn, already keen to walk and already trying to talk. She was way ahead in her development. Dinmara was going to be a very special She when she grew. Dinmara wobbled again and started to tumble. Flynn was by her side in a heartbeat and caught her before she fell, her already long blue hair falling across her face as he did so.
“Careful Dinny.” (his pet name for his sibling as Dinmara was a mouthful).
“You slow down before you fall and crash and hurt on the stones.” He instructed.
Dinny looked up at her older sibling and smiled. Her full blue lips revealed white teeth and a dark blue tongue just poking behind them. She had a beautiful smile.
Dinmara was in fact a very beautiful baby, so everyone had said from the date of her birthing.
As was tradition on Lihnar, the mother birthed the child, but any siblings would nursemaid the baby to walkhood and beyond whilst Mother returned to work. If she didn’t work they didn’t eat. If there were no siblings, then a cousin took the duty. No mother raised her own child, for if they did they would all surely starve.
Flynn sat in the chair and watched his younger sibling. She sat on the stone floor scribbling patterns with a wet stick. The white dust darkened and revealed the dark blue stone and it looked quite pretty.
“Wait a minute Flynn. You’re going soft. Pretty? What kind of heword is that? Pretty is a sheword.” He chastised himself.
The white sun had risen high and it was time to take Dinny to her rest.
“Come on Dinny, time for closed-eyes for you so I can do the chores.” He instructed with a gentle tone.
Dinmara wanted to draw some more.
“Dunwanna.” She said. “Dunwanna clowzeyez.”
“Ah! Come on. I need to clean and cook your food. I can’t do that unless you do closed-eyes for me. Do you want to be hungry and dirty?”
Dinmara shook her head, her pale blue eyes staring at the ground, her dark blue face showing the disappointment of having to comply.
“Pale blue eyes?” Flynn thought just as he had before over the past 6 weeks. “Dinny is definitely different. Perhaps She is truly a special one.
Dinmara got awkwardly to her feet and wobbled towards the room they slept in and clambered onto the dark blue Naskan furs and wrapped herself up. Within minutes she was asleep, and Flynn left her to do his chores.
Meanwhile, out in the village there was a crowd gathering, a low murmuring accompanying the crowd. A strange looking He had walked into town. He was most definitely male. Tall, strong, no hair. A fine specimen, yet there was something strange. He had a kind of oddness about him. The crowd gathered and began to touch him. Gently at first but when he stayed quiet they poked a little. His skin felt almost the same as theirs, though his was a little smoother, not rough like a Lihnari He, more like a baby. And it was a funny blue that kept changing. It had odd tints to it, the likes of which they had never seen.
The stranger spoke. His Lihnarese was different. It sounded similar but somehow strange, exotic.
“I’m Jashua. I’m from across the wet, a long way. I travelled 9 suns across the wet and was lost. Now I find you. What are you people?”
Daskman, the leader of the town was the old and wise one. He had seen over a hundred weeks of life and knew more than most. He stood talk and spoke.
“We are Lihnari. You are Jashua. There is no ‘across the wet’. Where is it true that you hail from?”
“It IS true. I am from across the wet. I hail from Linhellan. The Big Land far from here. I went on to the wet as we catch food from within, but a storm came and I was lost. Then after 9 suns I saw land and thought I was home, but I am not.”
Jashua looked around the crowd. He was at least an arms length taller than these people. They weren’t only shorter but they all had white eyes, as if there was no iris or pupil, yet they obviously could see. And they all had the same dark hair and dark skin. Their skin was rough as if it had been weathered like old animal skins.
“How odd.” Thought Jashua.
Flynn had cleaned the white dust from the blue stone floors and tidied Dinny’s clothing before checking in on her then departing to the village centre where he could get today’s food. As he approached he saw the crowd and the taller one in the centre and stopped in his tracks just short of the edge of the crowd. The taller one had no hair. No Lihnari had no hair. The taller one had dark blue eyes. Lihnari had white eyes. And his skin, it kind of changed hue from white to light blue to mid blue, and dark blue in the shadows. Who was this stranger? Pushing to the front of the crowd Flynn got a really good look. People were murmuring and as the stranger spoke with Daskman, Flynn caught up on what had happened so far.
Pushing a lock of mid blue hair from his eyes, Flynn stood a little taller and asked loudly “Why is your skin changing? First, it’s light blue then dark blue then light again. No Lihnari’s skin does that.”.
The crowed nodded its approval at Flynn’s question.
“My skin isn’t BLUE.” Exclaimed Jashua. “It’s pink and brown, well – skin colour.”
“It’s WHAT?” Shouted a voice from the crowd.
“What is ‘Pinkanbrown’?” said another.
“That’s definitely not SKIN colour.” Said a third.
“PINK and BROWN.” Jashua said slowly.
People shook their heads. They didn’t understand. He was calling this colour-shifting skin by strange words.
Jashua sat on a stone bench nearby and sighed. How could he explain.
“What colour is your hair?” He asked a young She standing close by.
“Blue.” She said with a look of query on her face.
“No! it’s Brown.” Said Jashua.
The girl looked startled and turned to the crowd. “My hair is Blue!” She exclaimed. They all nodded. Another She who had seen about 25 weeks of life saw the distress on the younger She’s face and comforted her.
Jashua sighed again.
Looking at a He close by he pointed to his own jacket and said, “What colour is this?”
“Mid Blue.” The He said confidently. Approval waved as noise through the people.
“No. It’s Green.” Said Jashua.
“Green.” Copied some. “Greem.” Some mispronounced.
Some just shook their head.
Jashua tried again.
“What colour is this?” he asked, pointing to a white cloth draping over a He’s shoulder.
“White, the crowd said almost in union.”
Jashua was startled. He expected some shade of blue. They could see white the same as he could.
He pointed to the sash that held his leg garments to his waist – it was blue.
“And this?” he asked.
“BLUE, Dark BLUE.” They all shouted, looking quite pleased. Almost like babies learning.
Jashua realised that these strange people with white eyes couldn’t see any other colours. Blue and white. That was it. It must be something in their race. Perhaps, because they were so far away from the Big Land, on such a tiny land, they had all got these strange eyes. Jashua looked around at the crowd and saw a multitude of white eyes looking back at him.
There was a fresh murmuring from the crowd, then a young voice, a baby’s voice shouted.
“Fylmm! Flymm”. It was Dinmara.
“Dinny!” Flynn exclaimed. “What? How?...”
“I did closed-eyes for a long time but you didn’t come and see. You were nowhere so I came. I saw others and came this place.” Said Dinmara. The crowd gasped.
This She was no more than 6 weeks of life and already walking and talking. Usually babies didn’t even try until 10 weeks of life.
Then one pointed at her.
“Look. Her eyes. The She has blue eyes!”.
The crowd turned as one, in silence, and stared.
Dinmara, now in Flynn’s arms, didn’t like it. The atmosphere felt electric and she began to cry.
“Stoppem Flymm. Stoppem ooking.”
Jashua walked forwards and gently touched the baby She Lihnari. Dinmara looked up, through tear studded eyes and smiled. Jashua noticed that her eyes were blue, not white and he wondered if she could see colours as he did.
Jashua decided, if they’d let him, he’d stay a while before trying to find home again. These people, this strangeness was fascinating. And the She Lihnari called Dinmara may be the most fascinating of all.
End…
09/03/2018
SRS
This is an adaptation science fiction inspired by the condition known as Monochromacy (achromatopsia).
People with monochromatic vision can see no colour at all and their world consists of different shades of grey ranging from black to white, rather like only seeing the world on an old black and white television set. Some can see only one colour - usually blue. It's genetic and a Micronesian Island has the most dense population of people with the condition, all descendants from one carrier in the 1700's; their King.
How the world may look to one with blue achromatopsia
