The room was painted a crimson red, darkening in the corners where it got more damp. It is sunny outside but cloudy through the windows. In the middle was a wide couch with a man sitting center, matching in width. His name was Rick. Of course. Behind the couch was a wall but to get to that wall you had to cross a pile of empty liter bottles that once contained Mountain Dew and UV Blue. He likes them because they are plastic. Easier to throw behind the couch. He splits them 50/50.
At his feet are a cluster of kids. There were around 2-4 of them but Rick couldn’t tell you. They gaze at him in admiration. Rick leans in and pulls his mouth wide showing off his golden teeth while the kids shove to get a closer look.
He pulls back, pausing to make a face.
The kids erupt in laughter.
They beg him to share where he got them but a magician NEVER reveals his secrets.
His wife stands down a short and narrow hall that progressively gets more dim. It might be the dust in the air but the light hits the scene just right and she thinks about the old movies she watched with her grandma. God, she loves him so much!
Sarah is his second wife, they do not speak of the first. She was very bad to him. She left him on Christmas morning. Rick has A LOT of trauma from it. But Sarah is different, she decorates her tree with lace, not lights.
Her friend from high school could see auras. She told her that she shined yellow. She once asked Rick what color he saw her as, and he told her that he was colorblind. Sometimes, she worries that her youngest son is color blind or, at the very least, color confused. She needs to be better at getting him to school.
Sarah is hunched over a mountain of dirty dishes. Her husband has been complaining about the smell again. As she dumps out a cup of molded over coffee she looks out the window and sees the kids who were once at Rick’s feet had migrated to the backyard. She can see their tousled hair racing past the window. The magician must have run out of tricks.
Sarah walks down the narrow hallway towards her loving husband. She gives him a chapped kiss on the cheek making a mental note that she needs to buy more chapstick. Rick doesn’t move towards her or away from her. She can tell that he’s blue.
“I’m about to do a load of laundry, do you have anything for me?” She asks warmly.
“Of course I do,” Rick answers.
“Of course, you do” Sarah repeats and looks over to the mountain of tattered sheets in the corner of the room. They use these sheets every night when they pull out the futon. If she doesn’t have time in the morning she just leaves it open, she’s the only one that seems to notice.
She sleeps out there with her husband, leaving the bedroom for the kids. Usually, she’s too tired to notice where she’s sleeping anyway. Sometimes when she’s laying there she’s even too tired to take a breath, so she takes a break. She doesn’t hold her breath or anything extreme, She just sits there empty and it’s the calmest she’s felt all day.