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Nothing is ever as easy as it looks. When Mrs. Grelina taught us our ABCs, we thought it was as easy as apples, balls, and cats. Thirty years later, our ABCs merely stand for

Anger,

Bills,

…and Children.

Children, ha! Isn’t it weird how our world was the size of a crayon box back then and we’d simply grab the brightest colors to paint our dull day? I remember one Thursday morning, Mrs. Grelina asked us to paint a picture of our day and my seatmate, Jules, in his messy hair and oversized shirt, drew the weirdest picture I’ve ever seen. In his paper was a white rectangle under a tree. His world was dark as the night and on the corner of the picture was a huge portal-like shape colored in bright pink.

Back in my five year old mind, that picture was scary so I called Mrs. Grelina and told her about Jules. Then they talked in whispers at the back of her desk. I was actually surprised to find her beaming!

After class, Mrs. Grelina handed me the paper with Jules’ drawing and said, “Maria, Jules was upset because his dog died yesterday. But you see that bright pink color? That’s your world. He says you brighten up his day.”

Word Count: 205

Written for Roger Shipp’s flash fiction challenge, Flash Fiction For the Purposeful Practitioner. The photo prompt reminds me of the eulogy I wrote for last week’s Sunday Photo Fiction prompt so I really, really have to continue sharing the world of Mrs. Grelina in here. ❤ ❤ ❤

This week’s prompt is: “Nothing is ever as easy as it looks…”

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