A Kingdom of Colour
In a far off land, where the skies reflect a radiant blue light into the eyes of beholders, and the natural landscapes possess the most vivid green aura about them, a kingdom exists. Its wealth was unparalleled, and its people prosperous.
This land was ruled by the most egotistic of monarchs. His name was Ray Teena, and he held himself on a very high pedestal. He hailed from a long line of philosophers who organized sustainable methods of managing the economy and government. Soon after getting married, his wife became pregnant. King Teena wanted his child to see everything the universe had to offer, so he devised a way by which humans could gaze at the stars through a telescope and see light outside the visible spectrum. Because of this revolution in how people could now see the world, King Teena was revered by the nation. They would follow him regardless of what he said.
However, using King Teena’s new device would alter the sight of anyone who used it, causing human beings to appear as either blue or green. King Teena himself became green, as did his pregnant wife. Since King Teena had put this devise on the market at an affordable price, everyone used it. Nobody really paid this blue-green side-effect any mind; at least, not until King Teena drew attention to it.
The kingdom hit financial difficulties after this device was set for commercial use; the supply of this new device could not meet the demands of the population. Everyone wanted to improve the way they saw the world in their everyday lives. As a result, the kingdom fell into an economic depression as the systems put in place were simply not enough to maintain a balanced distribution of wealth since monopolies were made on production and distribution of the device, and the corporations mismanaged their resources. A vast majority of the population became unemployed, and the kingdom developed elements of crime and poverty thereafter. Everyone turned to King Teena for answers, and through his zealous, charismatic speeches, blame was attributed to everyone who appeared blue. According to King Teena, by Social Darwinism, the green people must strive to make the kingdom great again at the expense of the blue people, who were inferior; King Teena proclaimed that blues were the limiting factor of the human species and thus had to be cleansed from the land.
Legislation was developed that segregated blue people from the population. Any and all blue residents were snatched from their homes and sent to what King Teena referred to as educational and work-oriented institutions. The true nature of these locations however, was much darker. King Teena received word that unspeakable things were happening at the institutions he had created. He turned a blind eye, as he thought nothing of the blue people. This horrid reality that King Teena constructed went on for many suns. He had taken away their rights, and the vast majority of green people did not care.
King Teena’s wife did care however, she threatened to leave him because of his prejudice ideals. He exclaimed that she could have anything she desired brought to her without hesitation. However, this did not cloud her judgement. She exclaimed: “What good are material things in a world where others of your very species are denied the basic necessities of life?”. The king’s wife put forth this idea: “I don’t want my children to grow up in a world where grave injustice for a minority group is part of everyday life!”. King Teena’s ears were unyielding. He loved his family dearly, but he was not prepared to change his ways because it was much easier for him to cater only to the people he considered superior. Yet, he did acknowledge that he was the cause of all the suffering that ensued in his once prosperous kingdom.
King Teena’s wife gave birth later that month. Much to his dismay, the baby was a blue one. King Teena’s wife was aware of the danger. She cried out to the people in desperate hope that they would be understanding: “Listen, we all share the same sky, the same earth, and the same air. Maybe we should begin considering all the things which bind us together as one, rather than fixate on trivial differences.”. She was very much prepared to leave the kingdom in order to save her child. She questioned whether or not she still loved her husband.
In response to this, Ray Teena had but only one thing to say to both his wife, and his kingdom, which was falling apart: “I know what I must do now…”
Written By: Benjamyn Upshaw-Ruffner
Originally Published: March 2016
