Her Inner Colour

     “Yeah, groove it!”

     Sigh. The pain of being a Disco Kacheek. Everywhere I go, there is the request for me to ‘shake it’ or ‘groove it’. I wonder when they will grow tired of it. I know I was since the day I was painted with the Disco Fever Paint Brush. At first it was amusing, I admit, but now I kind of miss my old Blue colour.

     My brother, Adam the Bruce, will only get mad at me. He would say, “Blue’s the colour for a Bruce! They even rhyme! You don’t appreciate Izzy buying you an expensive paint brush, how could you! I would do anything to be painted!”

     Sigh. True, Izzy my owner worked hard day and night since the day I told her I would loved to be painted Disco. While Gabby, my youngest sister will just sneer at me if I mention about my ‘weird’ colour. She’s just... Red. She does not like to be Red, she wants to be Strawberry. Izzy thinks she is being ridiculous because people would actually want to eat her, so she is miserable when the topic of colour is brought up.

     Sigh sigh sigh. My colour has been the cause of misery of my own sister. I know some happy painted pets at my school; one of them is Keira, the Pirate Poogle. Although she is a pirate, she is really nice.

     “Keira, I’m fed-up of this colour. I miss my old Blue colour. Izzy won’t and will never understand me,” I said to her one day at school during lunch.

     “Arr, of course she won’t. She spent a lot of her money on that paint brush, aye?” Keira asked me.

     “Yes, but...”

     “Weren’t you the one who said you loved to be painted Disco, because you love dancing?”

     “Yes, but...”

     “Then appreciate it. Most people would make fun of you but if your owner thinks you’re lovely, you should be happy enough. Izzy’s very, very nice. People always disapprove of me, a girl to be painted Pirate. I don’t care, I’m happy that I am unique,” Keira advised me.

     “You’re maybe the only girl being painted Pirate in this school, but there are a lot more girl Kacheeks being painted Disco in this school! I’m not unique!” I snapped at her.

     “Yes, you are. Everyone is. You remember what Mrs. Kish always said?” Keira tested me. I sighed.

     “No matter what colour you are, you are always yourself. Be you and no one else because you are special,” I said to her, remembering what Mrs. Kish always told us.

     “Aye. Now remember that, savvy?”

     I nodded sadly. I have to seek more of the meaning of the phrase than to just understand and remember it.

      * * * *

     Izzy picked Adam and me up from the school that day, just like any other day. She kept looking at me when we were walking home, and I knew why. Because I was sad. Izzy was good with telling if one of us was sad. Adam was walking in front of us with Gabby, singing their favourite song, “Paint Us!”. They had been doing that frequently, now that both of them wanted to be painted desperately. Sigh. Maybe I was not that appreciative. Look at my siblings! They would do anything to be painted.

     “Why is your smile upside-down?” Izzy asked me.

     I sighed again. Should I tell her? I did not have the heart to tell her that I hated my own colour, after all what she did for me.

     “Nothing,” I answered miserably. I walked into my room, and closed the door slowly.

     It was Disco Week at my school. Usually I would be the first one to sign up for the Dance Competition held at my school at the end of the week, but I did not feel like it this year. A Disco Kacheek grooving to Disco tunes, how typical. I have always loved dancing, and not being able to dance and show the world my talent was sickening me. And it was all because of my colour.

     “Hey, Farah? I made you three pizza for dinner; won’t you come down and join your brother and sister?” Izzy shoved her head through my Gold door.

     “No thanks,” I answered solemly. I may have to starve myself through the night but I could not show this unhappy face to my siblings. They would go amok at my unthankful manner and more.

     “Farah, what’s up? I know you’re unhappy, but you can always share stuff with me.” Izzy sat next to me on my Gold bed. I sighed again.

     “It’s Disco Week,” I told her. Izzy smiled at me encouragingly.

     “I’m not doing the Dance Competition like I used to do,” I continued. She frowned.

     “And why is that?” Izzy asked me, trying to get to the bottom of this.

     “Izzy, how typical is it, a Disco Kacheek doing a Disco dance to the Disco tunes on a Disco Week?” I asked.

     “But you love being a Disco Kacheek!” Izzy exclaimed.

     “You mean, I loved being a Disco Kacheek.” I sighed again.

     Izzy smiled. She held my hands and looked into my eyes.

     “Do you know how much I would love to show to the world the inner colour of me?” Izzy asked me, still smiling. I was puzzled.

     “Your inner colour?”

     “My secret passion. I love to care for people, for you guys. I would love to be a nurse. But I couldn’t just wear nurse uniforms because that would still won’t make me a nurse,” Izzy told me.

     “What’s that have to do with my colour?” I asked, still puzzled.

     “My point is, you guys have the ability to show your inner colours. You have always loved the Disco, dancing, the big Disco glasses, and you can show the world that. That’s why I worked so hard to buy you that Disco Fever Paint Brush, because you really have a Disco Fever! I mean, look at this room!”

     I looked around my room. Everything was in Gold because I loved the glamorous life of being a Disco Dancer. And there was the picture of me at my last Dance Competition, with my shining Gold Trophy. I really did love to dance.

     “Show the world what you are made of, Disco girl!” Izzy said, and patted my back. I smiled at her. She had a point.

     “Farah, are you or are you not going down for dinner? I’m starving!” My baby sister Gabby shouted in front of my door. I laughed, and then followed her to the dining room.

      * * * *

     It was Saturday, and that night was when the Dance Competition would take place at my school gym. I decided that I was going to take part in the Competition, as a Dance Coach to Keira. She said she would do anything for me that makes me enter the Dance Competition, so I decided to train her. Poogles are not really made for dancing, so she was really having a hard time training under me, but we did it. Keira was not very sure whether she could win, because she said, “Poogles are only good at running and winning a race!”

     But I said to her that I did not care if we win or not. The important thing was, we were going to have a blast at the Competition. We were going to go to the Competition together with Izzy, Adam, and Gabby.

     “Honey, I’m sorry, but Keira can’t make it. She sprained her ankle and her mother won’t let her go. Sorry, but we really need to go in order to be there in time,” Izzy said while I was poking my head out the window, looking for Keira. I almost hit my head on the window in shock. All the week’s practice had been useless!

     “I’m not going,” I said.

     “What?” Adam and Gabby yelled.

     “Look, I’m sorry, guys, but there’s no point in us going. Keira’s not here,” I explained.

     “No, we are going. Adam, Gabby, move on, quick. You too, Farah,” Izzy ordered. Gabby and Adam laughed happily. My mouth was wide open. I could not believe this!

     “What are we going to do there anyway, Izzy?” I asked when she pushed me out the door, holding my hand tight so as I would not run away.

     “Even though Keira is not here, you are. You can participate in the competition, what have I told you about your inner colour, your passion?”

     “I really don’t care about that!”

     “Yes, you are, and someday you would thank me about this!” Izzy told me sternly.

     “No I won’t!” I screamed back, but letting her dragging me anyway.

     The gym was fabulous. It was worth the argument I had with Izzy, because the gym was breathtaking. I could not find any flaws in it, starting with the Disco ball and the dancing tiles... Everything was perfect. And the competition was almost starting. Adam was having the time of his life dancing with his ‘dudes’, and Gabby was dancing with Izzy. Everyone was having a blast. Well, everyone except me.

     “Keira is still not here, and she’s coming up next!” I heard the panicked voice of Kari, my Tuskaninny friend, with the competition’s schedule on her fins.

     “We’re doomed! Where are we going to find another people who is going to replace her in the 5-minute slot?” I heard another panicked exclamation of Kari’s Shoyru friend.

     “I don’t know, but we have to be quick!” Kari said worriedly. I approached her without thinking.

     “Kari, I can do it! I can dance!” I told her.

     “Thank God, we have a dancer. Farah, you have to change to your costume quickly, or...” She looked me up and down. “No, you’re perfect! Missy, she’s up next!” She called the Shoyru.

     “Good, we’re saved. You’re our life saver, can you go to the dance floor? Once the music stops, stand in the middle of the floor, and you can do your grooves, okay?” she asked me.

     I nodded quickly, doing what she told me. I felt like I was dreaming as I stood in the middle of the dance floor, and just let myself go when the music started. This was what I had always been dreaming of. I was a Disco Kacheek dancing to Disco tunes on a Disco Week! I did not even care how typical it sounded, because it was me. This was my inner colour!

     Gabby, Adam, and Izzy hugged me once I finished doing the most incredible dance in my life. I was grinning from ear to ear, and I could tell that Izzy was very proud of me, her Disco Kacheek. I was a winner even if I did not win the competition, and guess what? I did win!

The End