Michelle H.

In an unusual world, people are defined by flavor choices. It is an instrumental part of identity, and just like in our world, majority rules. In this world, the hierarchy places those who favor sweet flavors on top. While equality is mainstream in the youth, prejudice corrupts the crevices of sweetness society, leaving salty and sour supporters hiding in the shadows. This story follows the trials of a woman who favors the sour. While you may not care about her story, you will soon come to realize the bigger problems, some of them plaguing your own society.

Rainbow was on her way to the first day of seventh grade. She wore her new school uniform and carried a small tin lunch box, which contained sour pickles, drenched in briney goodness. However, this was no ordinary first day; this was the first day she had the courage to bring a sour lunch. She joined a large crowd of girls that look just like her. You can tell these were the Heathers, the Plastics, the popular kids with rich parents and Covergirl hair. Rainbow fit in with them, and they all giggled together. She was one of them.

At lunch, they gossiped and whined. Tin boxes opened with the clicking of nail extensions, revealing sweet nutritional smoothies. Rainbow opened her lunchbox and revealed her pickles. A silence fell over her friends as they looked at her lunch, and whispers bounced around. Did anyone anticipate this? Did anyone realize? Rainbow was confused too. She was raised to always treat everyone as equal, and her parents were salt lovers. Therefore, she had always thought that all flavors were equal and that no one really minded. She was confused by their surprise. The silence was deafening. Then, a bully named Edward Bridgum lashed out.

“Hey, it’s a salty weirdo! Why aren’t you eating sweets like the rest of us?” This phrase was a spark in the fire, and soon the fire spread. Everyone jeered at Rainbow, calling her an aberration and an alien. Some bullied her with sincerity, others because of peer pressure. The only ones who didn’t taunt Rainbow were her friends, but she didn’t know what to do. The shouting and screaming reached a crescendo, and Rainbow fled. Dashing past teachers, she went to the bathroom, and climbed out an open window into the great beyond.

She kept running into the wide forestry around town, until she realized the gravity of her decisions. If she went deeper into the forest, she might encounter a hungry wolf, and she did not want to be killed. The only choice was to turn back, and face the consequences of running. She whipped her head around and started walking, expecting the sounds of suburbia and the view of buildings to grow closer, but it never did. Rainbow kept turning, but could not find her way out. Panic set in, and she started walking in random directions, hoping to get closer to her home. That was when she stepped backwards and fell through a hole. She tumbled down a tunnel until she was spit out onto the ground from a hole carved into a mountain side.

“Ow!” She brushed foliage off her school uniform and got up. Looking around, she saw a cluster of strange buildings made of stone. It looked like an ordinary town, so Rainbow ventured further to see if anyone could get her home. She noticed that there were gardens next to every house, adorned with green. Rainbow looked at the plants carefully and realized none of the plants could be used for sweet meals. Everything was either salty or sour. This was too good to be true. Rainbow ran around the whole town, peeking in every garden and being kind of creepy since she was romping in everyone’s backyards, but she didn’t care. She found acceptance! She filled with joy, just as someone approached her. He looked like the old wise man from childhood fables. “Excuse me, are you new to these parts?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

The old man looked at her critically, as if sizing her up for a fight. “Are you a lover of sweets?”

“I prefer sours.” Rainbow was relieved to see that no one seemed to have negative emotions about her preferences, further proving the friendliness of the town.

“Are you interested in learning combat? You must live here to learn, of course, but you’ll discover the confidence to defend yourself and your beliefs in the outside world.” The old guy smiled, and Rainbow didn’t have to think about it. Of course, she wanted to stay in this beautiful town where no one would hurt her. She would be leaving her family and friends behind, but these people supported her in a way no one had before. She could live far from discrimination, and that was all all she needed. Rainbow looked the guy straight in the eyes.

“Yes.”

TEN YEARS LATER

Edward examined his seventh grade class photo. The girl he had bullied was not in it, because she had run after the first day at lunch. He started that mob that chanted her away, and he didn’t regret it. She had it coming, being a sour. He stared out the window as the stench of rotting bodies strengthened in the corner. He had killed people who didn’t like sweets, because chasing one out of town wasn’t enough. People called him the Macgyver murderer for his deeds, because he killed using his victim’s tools. No one could catch him.

Rainbow had returned to her hometown for the second time. The first time, she had brought her parents to the stone house community, and assured them she was not dead. They had all started new lives there. This second visit was for reconciliation. Moving from house to house, with the names she had found on the internet, she had offered her forgiveness for the incident. Not one person recognized her at first, but soon remembered and were brought to tears at the memory of that fateful day. All of them apologized for their actions, and were grateful for Rainbow’s mercy. There was only one house left, and when Rainbow saw it, she almost didn’t want to go. It was dilapidated and old, and it smelled faintly of corpses. She swallowed her fear, and knocked on the door. Edward’s old gaunt face stared down at her. “What do you want?”

“I’m forgiving you. You probably don’t recognize me but-” Edward waved her off.

“I recognized you, and I’m not apologizing. You’re a sour-lover! You’re nothing to me.”

Rainbow was taken aback. “But-”

“Look, I’m not apologizing. Now go away.” Rainbow was in disbelief. “What- no! I’m not leaving until my honor and your reputation are repaired.”

Edward sputtered, “Ho-h-honor? Your honor can die for all I care!”

With a magnificent effort, Edward shoved Rainbow to the ground and tried to attack her. Rainbow couldn’t get up, but she could fight. Whipping out a knife, she hurled it, where it stuck in the wall with a thunk. Edward jumped up, startled, and Rainbow ripped her knife free. Giving Edward a death glare, she left.

Two weeks later, Rainbow was eating breakfast one day with her parents. Her father opened a newspaper. “Well, it seems here the Macgyver murderer has been killed. Good for us!”

Rainbow was confused. “Who’s the Macgyver murderer?”

Rainbow’s mom interjected. “Oh, he killed people who didn’t like sweets. Used random stuff in his victims’ house to kill. The police aren’t exactly too angry about his death. They’re not going to investigate the murder. Glad we can sleep at night.”

Rainbow asked, “What’s his real name?” Rainbow’s father leaned in closer to the paper and squinted.

“Seems to be Edward Bridgum. Hey, isn’t that the kid who pushed you two weeks ago?”

“Yes.” Her father kept reading the paper. “Looks like someone decided to make him pay. The strangest thing..”

Rainbow smiled. “Yeah, dad. The strangest thing.”

THE END

This story is an allegory for the abuse and fear LGBTQ+ members face from their peers when they come out. Rainbow in the story represents the LGBTQ+ person coming out and facing bullying from peers. The stone house community represents the friendly LGBTQ+ community that provides support to the new person who has openly joined their community, and the skills of combat they teach Rainbow represent the confidence supportive people provide, which allows Rainbow to vanquish her haters in the end. The flavors represent various sexualities, and Edward represents those who are prejudiced and cannot change, and will always prejudice against those who are different.

I chose to write about this issue because I was reading statistics one day, and I read how those who are out are more likely to feel happy than their closeted counterparts. This story brings attention to an issue that attacks a person’s identity, so our society will learn to openly accept the LBGTQ+.