1.1 Exchanging gray for blue

It took a few weeks to build a small cottage on the land that was now Anna’s. Since she had been broke upon her arrival, it had not been very easy to build anything there. None of the furniture she got from cheap stores or even the waste deposit was exquisite or modern, but it was enough to make this place feel a little like home.  

Her house only consisted of two rooms, one of them being a small bathroom in her favourite colour, blue. The shower she had gotten from her friendly neighbor, who had welcomed her on her first day in Appaloosa Plains.

It was not much, but it was something to start with. When she looked at the house, she almost smiled a little. The first step into a new life had been successfully taken, now she had to think about what to do next. A job was absolutely necessary, since a tiny suitcase full of clothes and make-up was all she had brought to this town. She neither had money for food, nor for more clothes or any other luxuries.

The only thing she considered really valuable was her guitar. She hadn’t been able to play for ages, but now, in her new home, there was nothing to stop her. Carefully, she took the guitar into her hands and for a moment simply enjoyed this familiar feeling. The one thing that had always consoled her was still with her, accompanying her in her new life, here in Appaloosa Plains. Softly, she struck the deep strings. The sounds that derived from this touch made her cringe, but in a good way. With her eyes closed, she struck another string, and then another one. When she felt how the strings slightly challenged her fingertips, she thought back to all the days where all she had been doing was playing the guitar until her fingers were sore. It had been her way of dealing with the pain inside of her. Now that she was free, another feeling built up in her, and that was joy. She enjoyed playing the guitar again, and she enjoyed doing it just because she wanted to. Maybe, she thought, she could even play in the park sometime, pleasing her neighbors and people that still were strangers. Not to mention that she could possibly earn a few tips to buy new furniture. Because even when she had everything she desperately needed, there was still a lot she wanted to have.

All of a sudden she was interrupted by a loud and dissonant triad. Although she was aware that she had installed a bell a few days ago, she had never put it to use, which is why the sound startled her. When she carefully peeked outside the window, all she could see was a lot of fur, and some incredibly long ears. Not really knowing what to expect, she opened the door a few inches and was faced by a huge lama who smiled at her broadly. When she stepped outside the house and looked questioningly, the lama made a giant step towards her and held out his hand. It was not until then Anna realized that the lama was, in fact, a skinny woman, and not a man. The lama introduced herself as Hella Braden, the  local university’s mascot. This explained the zany costume, and even made Anna smile for a second. Immediately feeling that this woman would mean no danger to her, she invited Hella inside the house. She was the first person to ever enter what she had built on her own, and she noticed tension building up inside of her. How would this foreign woman react?

After taking a look around the small living room, which had also been kept in blue, Hella turned back around to Anna, smiling again. This woman sure smiled a lot, which was a little awkward, but at the same time it made Anna feel more comfortable.

She even seemed very enthusiastic about the house and the dominating colors, which she claimed to be her favorite ones, too. For hours they talked, slipping from one conversation topic to the next. Although those two had never met before, it felt a little like they had known each other for a long time already. Anna knew better than to trust her counterpart immediately, but maybe this was a woman she could eventually be on a friendly basis with.

Before she knew it, the two of them were engaged in a huge pillow-fight, going on for hours and hours. It felt good to laugh so much, even though her stomach really hurt afterwards. She was not used to this much fun, and she could not recalling laughing within the last few years at all. Maybe this really was a better life than the one she barely escaped from.

When she told Hella how her head was spinning from the fight, she expected a little sympathy, or at least a break. Instead, Hella just laughed and immediately started the next fight, spreading more of the snow-white feathers all over the floor. Anna was not bothered by the amount of chaos they were producing, since she could easily clean that up within a few minutes, but not being taken seriously at all annoyed her a little. She didn’t want to be a spoilsport, which is why she kept the fight going, but internally she decided to keep her protective barriers up for a little longer.

When she glanced at the clock hanging upon her couch, she was glad to have an excuse to say goodbye to Hella. It was already late in the afternoon, and neither had she eaten anything, nor did she have a chance to go out and get a job. Friendly, yet assertively she disbanded Hella and enjoyed the silence for a little bit. This day had proven to her that life could be fun, as long as you were still careful when meeting new people. Most of them were rather harmless, but not to be underestimated.

Sitting down on her terrace for dinner, she once more admired the beautiful view she had. Although there were a few houses around, there was so much land to look upon. And most of that was hers, too. One day there would be a beautiful and blooming garden, full of pretty flowers and plants that daily reminded her of the beauty of life. She could grow her own vegetables and fruits, which she could then process into food or sell it somewhere. There was nothing better than being outside of stuffy houses, digging into flower soil and twitching bugs off her plants. This was her second passion, besides music, and this was the one that should determine her life from now on. If she was really lucky, she would find a man who would share these passions with her, and live a life as simple, but incredibly happy farmers. But for now, that was still a dream.

Before that dream, there was a lot of work she had to achieve. Firstly, she desperately needed to get a job in a place where they wouldn’t ask questions about her background and her past. This was absolutely crucial, since she was not willing to share this with anybody. The science lab had a job offering for a test subject, and without thinking long about this decision, she called the telephone number stated below, and confirmed her interest. It was a well-paid job and she would be in touch with mother nature quite a lot. Most certainly this was the perfect job for her!

The next day started earlier than the last one. Around 5 a.m., Anna woke up from the excitement that had built within her through the night. There was no way she could go back to sleep again, therefore she got up, grabbed a plate of the salad she had prepared the previous night, and sat outside to watch the sunset.

Again, she was fascinated by the beauty of this town. Maybe she could walk around a little bit after work, getting to know her neighborhood and even meet some people. This was a courageous thought for her means, and she shied away from it for a moment. Nobody knew her here, after all, which meant that she could be whoever she wanted to be, without any limitations. From now on, she was not going to think about the past anymore. Instead, she was going to live in the now.

As soon as work was over, she stepped out of the science lab happily and satisfied. Although she had not met many people yet, she had felt so comfortable within the system, that she could actually imagine spending all of her time here. Well, most certainly she wanted to climb the ladder of success, too, but for now she was fine. This was it, this was where she belonged.

On her way home she stopped by the library, to have a look at some books about gardening. As of now, she couldn’t afford them, but since she really wanted to get started with growing her own plants, she wanted to read some literature about it. After all, she didn’t want to endanger or even kill the plants before they were ready for harvest! Before she got to the book-shelf with the books on nature, her cellphone beeped. Hella had sent her a text message, to ask how her day had been going. This was such a nice gesture, and Anna replied immediately. Reporting about a new job in only 150 characters was hard to do, but she managed to fit everything important in. Who knew, maybe Hella was going to be her friend after all.

Within minutes the library was crowded by people of different profession and status. Apparently, most of the jobs were over for the day by now, which caused many people to stop by here for a few minutes. In addition, word had spread that Appaloosa Plains’ newest residents had finally left her nutshell for a few hours. Everybody was curious to see what she was like, and why she seemed so mysterious.

One man approached her the minute she had put the book away, and introduced himself as Kanoa Parrot. He seemed very nice in the beginning, but when Anna replied to his question on her choice of books, with a discussion about different seeds and plants, he couldn’t suppress a yawn. Clearly, this was nobody she wanted around for a longer time, which is why she bid farewell and went home. The day had been long, and after all this time of being surrounded by other people, she really needed some alone time again.

Before she went to bed, she went outside to finally plant the first seeds. It took her some time, because she wasn’t really used to digging with her fingers anymore, but in the end she had successfully two plants. Her hands were soaked in wet soil, her only pants were dirty and her back hurt from kneeling on the ground for quite a bit. At the same time, she felt more satisfaction than she had ever experienced before. From now on, she wanted every day to end exactly like this.