Coloring Book Books

“I went to grab the perfect shade of green and realized I didn’t have it. How could bamboo be colored with primary green? I blew out a frustrated breath and looked back into the box.

Rand was crouched beside me, his hand resting gently on my back. His touch was light but also strong and reassuring. I couldn’t help but lean into him, even if I swore to myself I wasn’t. “What’s wrong?”

“This green isn’t right for the bamboo.” Because that was the most normal sentence I’d ever uttered.

“What about these colors?” he pulled out a pink crayon, then a blue, and finally a purple.

“Bamboo is green! But it isn’t primary green.”

To his credit, Rand didn’t look at me like I had four heads. But then again, he picked up the blue crayon and handed it to me. “I think blue and pink and purple bamboo would be perfect.”

My mouth hung open, and I tried to argue. “No! No, it’s not.”

Rand rubbed his hand over my head. “Kyle, it’s coloring in a children’s coloring book. You aren’t entering this into an art contest. It can be blue and purple and yellow and orange if you want it to be. It can be out of the lines, it can be scribbles on the page. You aren’t trying to imitate life right now. You’re coloring a picture that I can hang on the fridge and we can smile at.”

“The fridge?”

“I’m going to take the green away completely if you keep worrying about it.”

I gasped in horror. “You wouldn’t!” I needed the green.

Rand raised an eyebrow at me, asking me if I wanted to push it. I shut my mouth quickly and picked up the light-blue color he was holding out to me. Could bamboo really be light blue? I bit my lip as I put the blue to the paper and colored the first few lines in smooth up and down motions.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” Rand gushed. He was over exaggerating, but I felt myself swell with pride.”
― Carly Marie, Untamed