1 The Blank Painting

...the rain falls, the colors are getting washed away.

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It was the same for her, go to school, come back to eat, and sleep. Everyday was the same, after all her life has never been different.

Her, Athena, an orphan who's lives alone for 16 years without knowing anything about her parents. She was used to it though, she'd rather not make a difference in her everyday life.

She stepped out of her apartment, looking up at the sky, it wasn't bright like the people say it is. It was black and white, the dull colors were the only colors she saw.

She didn't mind it, in fact she grew to like it. It gave her a simple and peaceful life.

"I wonder what'll happen if all my colors fade, will it be all white or all black?" Athena asked herself.

'Well, no point in thinking about it, let's go to school.' she thought.

It was a 15 minute walk to school, a 5 minute ride with her bicycle, of course she chose to ride her bicycle. It was much easier than walking.

She made her way to school, she arrived sooner than she thought. Perhaps she was quite lost in thought? Athena could only come to that conclusion.

The hallways were filled with students, they were talking yet to Athena, they held no sound. She couldn't bothered by something like this.

Joy, happiness, sadness, love, and even hate. Athena has never felt those feelings, making her life more dull than it already is.

The bell rung signaling it was time for class, Athena was the first one there as always, she was never after anyone.

As class started, she always paid attention. She was smart, but wasn't ever at the top of the class because she never wanted to.

Athena was smart, she knew that. She was smart enough to make money online, she wrote novels and posted it.

She earned money off of those novels she wrote, her novels were so bland yet people would still compliment her.

She was able to hear the teacher, she needed to anyways. Her grades were average, nothing too good or too bad. It was normal.

As she listened to the teacher talk, she couldn't help but admire the teacher, her variety of knowledge was wide.

'I wonder if I can be knowledgeable as her one day.' thought Athena.

Soon enough, class ended. It was time for lunch, the students rushed towards the cafeteria since they had pizza today.

It was a friday, the day before the weekend.

Athena brought her own lunch and went towards the rooftop. The rooftop was always unlocked yet nobody would come up.

She didn't complain, she was glad. Taking out her bento, she started eating looking at the white sky. The color black disappeared from her sight, meaning she lost something valuable to her, but that something was unknown to her.

She would have to search for it.

School had ended and she was walking home, the color white enveloped her vision. The students were walking with joy on their faces, she didn't envy them but instead tried to understand them.

What made them so happy?

How were they able to display such emotions?

What type of colors were they seeing?

Those thoughts lingered in her head and before she knew it. She had already arrived into her apartment, her apartment was nothing special. There were chairs, desks, it was the most plain apartment you could every think of.

Athena repeated the same things she did everyday once she got back home. Cook, get changed, and do homework.

The food she cooked was good, often looking up different recipes to try out to ease her boredom. She changed into fresh clothes after she showered.

Starting on her homework, it was easy for her. She was already a few steps ahead of the people top of the class.

Before she slept, she decided to take a look at her novel. It was filled with compliments, there was never a mean comment.

Writing and drawing was something she could call her hobbies, though painting always interested her. But she could never pain, due to the only colors she could see.

White.

The colors blue, red, orange, those were colors she could never see.

Why?

She had an illness, this illness would decide whether she would live or not.

This made her life dull, any day she could drop dead and no one would ever notice.

If she died, she would feel relieved. She would be free from the blank colors she always saw and descend to somewhere she was able to see colors.

Yet she lived, the doctors didn't know what the illness had either. It was an illness never seen before, it was similar to a heart attack.

If the illness started developing and started attacking your cells. She would die, no questions asked. The scientists and doctors were researching on the illness, she knew that.

Despite not having the will to live, she was laying on her bed alive. But without those colors, what was the point of her living?

Her life was a blank painting, unknown to her.

Someone had picked up the brush....