Written for Sunday Photo Fiction: https://sundayphotofiction.com/2020/08/02/sunday-photo-fiction-aug-2-2020/

Show it with color

Brad knew that his family was watching the news closely. They were like the other elderly folks who were stuck home, half quarantining, half trying to understand what was going on in this world. His mom saw every face that showed up on the news, he didn’t want to take any chances. He could only imagine the horror on his mom’s face if she saw him out demonstrating his rights. She would see it as an embarrassment. She didn’t understand how important it was to him, to treat people equally, to use your power the right way.  

Brad and his friends were truly diverse. Not one of them was ethnically the same as another. This is what brought them together. They were determined to fight for equality for all people. But they wanted to do something different, something that wouldn’t hurt anyone, but something that would catch the attention of everyone, especially the news broadcasters. 

Devon was the one who produced the idea. Take the typical smoke bombs and add the color powder. He could get it easily at his job, manufacturing colored powders and sprays for construction sites. Marcus could get the smoke bombs, having connections to some other pranksters. Derek was going to work with Brad on some sort of head covering to hide their identities. He had mentioned earlier that his little sister was in a school play with silly shape characters; they would use some of those ideas.  

The plan worked perfectly. When the newspapers were printed it was Brad who made the headlines. After patting himself on the back and enjoying his stardom he noticed one setback that could never be taken back, his tattoos. His mom would identify that if she took a few minutes to notice. He was screwed! 

©2020 CBialczak Fiction