The Adventure of Violet Sophia
In the backyard, on a beautiful summer day, a girl sat with her cat and a box of crayons. Distracted by the excitement of birds fluttering and bees bumbling, the girl and the cat jumped up from the patio table, unintentionally knocking over the box of crayons. This is where our story begins.
“Ouch," Red cried out, “that hurts”. “Move over," shouted Yellow, “you are in my space.” Green replied, “It’s ok, you can be next to me”. Orange spoke next, “I have a creative solution”. Violet Sophia listened intently. She didn’t say a word, too scared and nervous to speak her mind. “What’s that?” Blue inquired.
Orange then suggested that they leave their home, the Crayon Box, and head out to explore a new and exciting world. Most crayons were disturbed by this idea. They couldn’t leave their home. They have always been in this Box. It was comfortable. It was secure. They knew their place. They understood the expectation in the Box. Outside of the Box was frightening. Who knows what lies beyond these walls?
“Let’s do it,” yelled Yellow. “I’m in," Green agreed. Blue nodded in consent.
Violet thought, “Should I go too? These are my friends. I don’t want to leave them.” An adventure sounded cool. Yet, little Violet Sophia was afraid inside, very afraid. She didn’t like new experiences. She liked her routine. She was anxious over meeting new crayons, and besides loud noises and stinky smells made her nervous. Red pushed through the crowd and screamed, “Let’s roll”.
They were off, rolling across the table, down to the chair and onto the deck.
Red was first, followed by Orange, then Yellow. Green and Blue lined up behind them. “Violet are you coming?”, asked Green, concerned for the little crayon. Violet hesitated, then in one quick move, she decided to roll. Off they went into the unknown world of the backyard.
What the friends didn’t know, that silently and quietly two crayons followed them, White and Black. Now White and Black, were interesting, maybe the most unique crayons in the Box. White was very unassuming. One never knows when White is around. White is silent. White is unseen. Yet, White is always there. White is helping and assisting, without the knowledge of others. Now Black is the opposite. Black is bold. Black never hides. Black is strong, powerful, and mysterious. Because of this, the other colors are often scared of Black. Black doesn’t understand why, as Black is just being Black. Black likes to take risks. Together, Black and White, head out with their friends on their journey.
Red commands, “Follow me.” The group rolls along. Black speaks up,”Let’s go this way.” “What," Red asks, annoyed. “What are you dong here?” “I’m the leader of this group. Can’t you just follow like the rest of the colors?”
Orange agrees with Red. Green wants them both to just get along. Blue doesn’t really care which way they roll. Yellow is admiring the sights and didn’t hear the conversation. Violet Sophia speaks, quietly.
“I think Black is right. I feel like we should go where Black thinks is best.
Black is bold, yet bright. He may be dark, but I think his idea is good.” “Are you crazy," pipes in Orange. Yellow replies, “What, where are we going”. Blue responds, “With Black, haven’t you been listening?” Red shouts, “I’m not going anywhere with Black. He’s reckless.” Green tries to calm them all down. “Take a deep breath and breathe in the fresh air. Now, doesn’t everyone feel better,” soothes Green.
The group did feel better. They all agreed with Violet Sophia’s wise and calm words. They followed Black, even Red, who still wasn’t overly excited about not being the leader. Orange spotted an oriole, and marveled at the beautiful coloring. Yellow, noticed a field of sunflowers growing in the distance. Green especially enjoyed rolling on the lush grass. Blue just wanted to look up at the clear sky. Red was thrilled by the brightness of the cardinal perched on the bird-feeder. Little Violet Sophia, happy that she was courageous enough to conquer her fears and brave enough to voice her opinion, just laid back, looked around and gave “thanks” to the unknown. Silently, White, keeping an eye on all of them, smiled.
Susan J. McFarland
May 2016
