Colors of her Mind

She woke with the sunrise. Raven always woke with the sun. She jumped out of bed and
ran to the window. The sun was just peaking over the horizon. She gasped in amazement
as the first rays of sun ran through the atmosphere. She knew she only saw light this
way, but it always felt knew to her.
Raven could see each ray as it ran its course through the air. It was like watching
rain running down a window. It drips and trickles and merges with other like
particles. They started out as a light yellowish white then turned to yellow to blue
to so many other colors that they boggled the normal imagination.
Raven felt like peachy orange today. She liked peachy orange sunrises. She reached
out with her mind, touching each beam of light causing the light to bend until it
reached the color she was looking for. She smiled as she watched her handiwork change
from sunrise colors to normal day colors.
Raven quickly changed out of her white nightgown into a simple white dress. She tied
an equally white apron about her waist. She shook out her hair until it fell just
right about her shoulders. As Raven looked at her reflection, she adjusted the light
falling upon her form so the colors she wanted came to view. The dress turned into an
emerald shade of green while the apron stayed white. Her light blond hair took on its
black appearance, though a few stubborn strands turned silver refusing to obey her
commands. Raven grumbled a little about that. It was always the same. She could
manipulate the light around her to show any color she wanted, except those few
strands of hair on her head. Her uncle had said it was because she needed to be
reminded of how stubborn she would be.
Her uncle....
Raven sighed heavily. It was today. The others would be awake soon. She needed to
sneak out and return before that happened.
Raven took the chain off from around her neck. Hanging on the chain was an ornate
key. At least the top half of one. She stared that the gem in the center. It looked
like a large piece of glass, until Raven let its real color shine through. It shone
like a piece of the rainbow. Colors refracting and changing with no rhyme or reason.
Raven slipped the key off the necklace as she faced the mirror once more. She had her
mirror here as a marker. A marker to a special door. She walked up to the Gateway,
fitting her key into the center. The portal opened, whisking her into another world.
The changing between worlds was immediate. Raven knew from experience that the Gateway
had closed behind her. No one knew where she went. Nor would they come after her. If
she played her cards right.
Raven looked up at the suns of this world. They shone side by side. One blue. The
other yellow. Giving everything a greenish tint, like looking through a bit of
colored glass. Raven slipped the key back on its chain before replacing the necklace
around her neck as she walked through the woods.
The trees were twice as tall as the trees back home. What looked like pine trees grew
high above her head. The thin canopies were deceptively thin-looking. Raven knew
from experience that the first sign of water in the air would cause those leaves to
unfurl, making an extremely dense waterproof umbrella. Raven smiled from memories of
falling asleep during a rainstorm under these very trees. Uncle said that the trees
thought her to be their princess, so they would do anything to make sure she was safe
under their leaves.
Raven kept walking through the forest. She had a bit of a trek to make it to her
destination.
This world was different from most. Time here moved faster than the other worlds, but
things aged slower here. Raven never understood those physics, but she loved the
colors here. They reminded her of the Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz, one of her
favorite stories.
She always loved colors. She remembered when her powers awakened. Seeing how colors
dripped and flipped and refracted. Taking note of how objects drank deeply of some colors
and spat out all others. Uncle had taught her how to make things drink different
colors. She merely needed to coax the object to try something new. True some things
she had trouble coaxing, like her hair, but she loved to try.  
She was here. At last.
Raven knelt by the base of a hollowed tree. Old ashes from years of campfires still
lay in the firepit a few feet away. The grass still lay flat from years of her laying
on it. This place used to be her home for 12 years. Until uncle left.
She reached into the hollow of the tree. She pulled out her uncle's jacket. White
with black markings. She breathed deeply, burying her nose into the fabric. It still
smelled of him after so many years. Thanks to the slow aging.
She hung the jacket on a branch. She stood up, curtsying to the jacket on a branch.
"Hello, Uncle," she whispered. Tears stung her eyes. "Happy Birthday."
She smoothed her skirt. "I wore green today. I know you like green best."
She closed her eyes as the memories of that last day came to her mind:

"I don't want to go to bed," she pouted.
Her uncle just next to her, smiling as always. "It's just bedtime. It's not like you're going to sleep the rest of your life away." He always said that at bedtime.
She was still mad though. "I'm a big girl," she yawned. "I don't need to go to bed
yet."
Uncle ruffled her hair. "You are a big girl, but even big girls need to go to bed a
little earlier than their uncles."
She stuck her tongue out in protest. He acted like he would make a grab for it. She
stuck it back in, giggling. Uncle laughed with her as he wrapped her in a big hug.
"We're going to Earth tomorrow, right?" she asked.
"Yes, mitten kitten, we're visiting Earth tomorrow."
"Can we get those big pretzels from the nice man in the park?"
Uncle laughed. He knew those pretzels were her favorite. "Yes, we'll go to the park
and eat so many pretzels you just might burst!" He poked her stomach for emphasis.
"But you have to go to sleep first or tomorrow will never come."
Raven nodded, rubbing her eyes. Uncle wrapped his jacket around her before kissing her forehead goodnight.
"Sing for me, uncle?" she asked. She loved to hear him sing.
He nodded. He would do anything for his little girl. He chose one of her favorite lullabies.
"Here she sleeps
The princess fare
Under a spell
Unaware
the dangers present
All around
Yet she sleeps
Safe and sound
Monsters roam
to and fro
Yet they leave
Her alone
Tasked are they
To watch her rest
Knowing that
This is for the best
The spell will break
One fateful day
The princess will wake
Be taken away
To worlds anew
To adventures great
If she sees them through
So such to see
So much to do
But remember this
That I love you...."


It wasn't the best song in the world, but he wrote it for her. That's what made it
her favorite.
She looked back at the jacket.
"I've missed you, Uncle," she whispered. "You went away for a long time. I went to sleep one night and didn't wake up for a long time. You weren't there when I woke up. Just the trees." She looked up at the canopy, wishing they could give her an answer.
"I still travel the worlds. Making sure there's no trouble. I haven't been to Earth though. Not since you left. You told you'd take me there. I'm waiting for you to do
what you said."
Tears started to pour from her eyes. She closed them tight.
"Why did you go away?" she cried. "Where did you go? Why did I sleep so long? It's been almost 3 years since I woke up, and you haven't come back. No one has seen you. No one knows where you are."
She took the jacket from its hanging place and hugged it tight. "I want you back!"
she shouted. "You didn't even tell me you were going away! Why? Did you do this to me before?" She broke down crying. All her frustrations turning to tears down her face.
It took quite some time for her to calm down again. Once the tears and hurt subsided,she hung the jacket back up again.
"I hope you're having a good birthday, uncle. I know you are. You always do." She smiled a little bit. A little bit, that is.
"Some people think you're dead, I know you're not." She fingered her key. "You said this key was connected to you. Remember when you gave it to me? You said that as long as the jewel lights up that you are watching over me. Well, it's still lit up. You're somewhere. Just not here with me."
She talked a little while longer. She told of her life in the Asylum and how Headmaster scares her. How she went there like he told her to go there if she was ever left alone. How she does her best to be a good girl, but of how it's a lonely life. How she liked one of the boys there, but he doesn't know she exists, just like everyone at the Asylum. How she still visits the other worlds to make sure there are no troubles, like he used to do. The suns were close to setting when she finally puts the jacket back in the hollowed tree.
"Bye, Uncle," she whispered. "I'll come back to visit."
She headed back the way she came till she reached the portal. She looked around the forest one more time. She always hoped her uncle would magically appear and everything would be okay.
However, as always, she was alone in the forest.
She sighed heavily as she activated the portal. Just like going in, she quickly goes back to her room at the Asylum. She checked the time. Only a few minutes have passed. The others are just beginning to wake up.
Raven slowly heads downstairs in time to see James and Christian head outside. She waved at the boys as they passed by her. As always, they didn't even see her. Par for the course.
Raven walked to the window to watch them until they passed out of sight.
The colors had reverted to normal day colors. Raven reached out, coaxing the sky to drink in a deeper shade of blue, to match her feelings.