FicWad

Portrait of Kitty: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/28306744/



The pink hair had been an accident. It was supposed to be auburn, but somehow at the factory the bottles had gotten switched and she'd gone from a drab, mousy blonde to looking like she'd dipped her head in strawberry frosting. Somehow it worked though, well enough that even her rather conservative mother (who had been reluctant about even the red) liked it.

So the pink had stayed. She'd hunted out which colour she'd actually used (disgustingly named "Sweet Sixteen") and meticulously refreshed the dye job every few weeks. She was happy with the look, she couldn't deny that. The only problem was that her pink hair made everyone believe that she loved pink.

As a child, her room had been white and yellow. When she got older, it progressed to blue with little bits of green in the trim. Once she moved into her own house, she did the floor, ceiling, and walls entirely in a rich, vibrant blue offset with brightly coloured citrus furniture. Lemon table, lime chairs, watermelon table, each piece standing out vibrantly from the oceanic background. Still she heard it, every time she had a birthday or Christmas came or there was any reason at all to give a present.

"Here, this is for you! I saw it and it just screamed Kitty!"

And it was always pink. She smiled prettily, thanked the people kindly, knew that they'd meant well, and spirited the item away to a closet until she could sell it. No one seemed to notice. Her pink hair seemed to explain away the disappearance of the pink lamp, the lack of pink wallpaper, the mysterious absence of the pink, heart covered comforter.

Another autumn came. Another October, another birthday. She dressed in her favorite, blue checked dress. She brushed her hair with a plain, wood handled brush, watching the strands slide between the bristles, noting that at the roots her bubblegum do was giving way to straw again. She braced herself for the inevitable.

"Here you go, lovely! I saw this and I instantly thought of you!"

She smiled. "Why, thank you, Tiara! It's a lovely chair! Is it hand carved? You can really see the detail in the hearts!"

It's the thought that counts, after all.

"Hi, Kitty! I know it's not much, but here's your present! I thought it would go with your hair..."

Sometimes they managed something decent. "It's beautiful, Goldie! And I love cherries! I'll wear it all of the time, I promise!"

They were all thinking of her.

"Hn. It's not much, but here. It seemed like something you'd like."

"A new chair? To...to match my others?"

"Yeah, well, you seemed one short and you already have two orange, so I thought another lime one would do. Look, if you don't like it I can just..."

"Thank you, Tom. Thank you very, very much."

She was twenty one. She'd thought no one would ever notice.

"That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever given me."

Pink had always been "her colour," the colour of kindness, of cuteness. She'd never felt she could own it, until she discovered it was also the colour of a blushing tom cat's cheeks.



Finished