Hey guys! I am back with a new chapter of My Rose-Colored Perspective. I got a review from JustAnotherLoneWolf and it made me realize that I've been kinda neglecting this story, and I apologize for that. I've just been so caught up in The Agents from Down Under and finishing chapter 11 of that before break ends that I totally forgot to check this one. Anyway, this is the new chapter, and I am shutting up now... :) Please Enjoy! Okay, shutting up now for real-zies.


Chapter 3: Day Three

I woke up with a surprisingly light spirit. It was as if the whole world were simply breathing easier. I got up and made breakfast for the boys again, and was about to sit down when I was invited to the table by Skipper. "I would take the invitation, but there's no other chair for me," I said.

All of the boys got up at once and said, "Take mine!" I blushed at the attention I was being given. I sat down in Rico's seat, which was conveniently next to Kowalski's. Wow, he's so cute... wait... where is that coming from? I shook my head. It was just a vision, it didn't mean anything... of course, all my past visions meant something so this shouldn't be any different. Skipper took a long sip of his fish coffee (which, I made that too, thank you very much for saying thank you, not) and he gave a speculative hmm.

"You know, Valerie, I think you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot. I would like to re-start by saying: thank you for making breakfast this morning and this coffee is some of the best I've had!" said Skipper.

"Thank you, Skipper, but I only do this because... well, I guess you can say I was born for this inside life," I said while moving my flipper on the table absent-mindedly.

"Well, whatever the case, Miss Valerie, you can stay as long as you like," he said.

"Thanks," I said.

"What's wrong?" asked Private.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong, what would make you think something was wrong?" I said, while laughing nervously.

"Well, nothing, except you look so sad this morning."

"I am perfectly fine, now, if you will excuse me, I have morning exercises I need to do," I said while leaving. I hadn't even touched my breakfast, I wasn't hungry. Skipper saying that I could stay as long as I like reminded me of how much I couldn't stay as long as I liked. On the next new moon, I would get married to a man I didn't love against my will and after having intimacy with him against my will I would probably be dead on the following morning. Such is the life of a penguin in The Society. I hate The Society. It was built to protect the less fortunate, like my parents, from predators, like the spotted seal, but men, like "my brother" were screwing things up for the rest of us. "Ugh, why does everything have to be so difficult?!" I spun around and released my anger in the form of energy... wait, what? "I didn't know I could do that... something is desperately wrong with me." I got down on my knees again and began crying. Why couldn't my life by like the boys for the rest of my life? Why couldn't I live in true safety in this zoo? Because it's a prison. "I don't need my brain arguing with my mouth." I lay down on the concrete and looked into the bright summer sky. My only way out is to have one of them fall in love with me... but I won't do it, I'm not that shallow. I sighed and closed my eyes, willing the universe to have the Earth swallow me so that I wouldn't have to deal with this anymore.

"Valerie, come inside! We have something to show you!" came the voice of Private.

I groaned. "Coming," I said. I trudged over, once again losing the battle of choice with my mind. Once inside, I noticed that the boys had built me a bed. "You made that for me?" I asked.

"Go ahead, try it," said Skipper. I went over and pushed on the bed. It was the most comfortable surface that was meant to be my bed that I ever felt.

"Whose idea was this?" I asked, trying hard not to break into tears again.

"Well, considering as how you've done so much for us and considering how badly I treated you for not believing in premonitions, I thought this would be a good way to make it up to you. Now, you don't have to sleep on the floor," said Kowalski.

I was touched to say the least. I liked that for once someone cared about me. I was about to say "Thank you," when I felt a major pain in my head. I grunted in pain and I fell to my knees. It was like I was going to have a premonition, but I wasn't ready. The boys' cries of concern for me were far out in the distance, as if behind a pane of thick glass as I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper. I wasn't ready.


Instead of a premonition, I saw a memory. My mother was holding me in her arms. I was a young child, but grown enough not to be a baby. The vision was blurred, was I crying? My mother stroked my cheek, I could feel her warmth, I could smell her perfume, I could hear her heart beating rapidly against my head. "Your father and I are going away for a while, but we will leave you in your brother's hands so that you will be taken care of... it's the only way." She put me down, but I felt the pain in my chest. She was leaving?

"Mommy! Don't go! I don't like my brother, he's scary! Mommy! Mommy!" I kept crying "Mommy" as the vision faded.


I woke up on my bed staring up at the ceiling. The boys were talking in hushed tones. I gripped my head. "Oh, my head! I don't think I've ever had a vision this painful!" I said. I tried to get up, but a felt a huge pain in my chest. My heart is still aching from seeing my mother leave me. Why was I reminded of this now? "It's because that was the last night I felt true happiness." I was answering myself again.

"When was the last night you felt true happiness?" asked Private.

"Before my mom left..." I didn't want to say any more. I lay down on my left side, facing the boys, trying to block the pain. "Kowalski, something is wrong with me, I need help."

"We can take you to the vet..." he suggested.

"No," I interrupted. "No, this is a matter of science." I shivered as a new surge of pain flew through my body. "A year ago I was having horrible nightmares, like the one I just experienced. I wanted to forget what happened so long ago. Now it seems as if my memories are finally breaking through and my sight is moving backwards again." I curled up tighter, trying to suppress the pain. "I need to be normal again, it's the visions, it's my altered DNA that is causing this attack."

They all looked at me with sympathy, then looked to Kowalski for a solution. "I'll try to come up with something, but I don't know how well it will work... I'll need a sample of your blood first to know what we're dealing with here."

I sat up, with a great effort, and said, "Whatever you need, just so long as it stops without any casualty." Kowalski nodded.

The rest of the day was comprised in Kowalski trying to find a solution to my problem. I had to give it to him, he was really putting an effort into helping me. No one else ever wanted to help me. Ever since my mother left, I've been alone. I never even saw my father... I don't think. I sat there a moment trying to think about who my father was. "AH!" Another headache, another vision. My body shook from the effort, it was all I could do to keep upright in my bed. I faded further and further until I saw nothing.


It was another memory. I was sitting on my father's knee. I could smell the burnt wood smell that permeated his feathers from working with the furnaces. I was always told that he was keeping The Society warm for everybody's comfort. He was looking at me with tears in his eyes. "Valerie, my job is going to be changing soon, and I won't be seeing you anymore, except on Christmas." I hugged him tight, absorbing the smell of the wood into my nostrils. I cried into his feathers. "Don't cry, little one, I'll be around."

"But, I'll miss you, Daddy," I cried.

"I know, little one, but this is the only way." I cried some more into his feathers, getting them more damp. He had been around every weekend and every holiday... even my birthday. Now, he was leaving his only little girl for a better job. "Do you remember what I told you, little one?" he asked.

"Don't talk to strangers?" I guessed.

"No, not that one."

"Always say 'Please,' 'Thank you,' and..." I burped. "Excuse me."

He laughed and said, "Guess again."

I put a flipper to the bottom of my beak. "Always be honest?"

"No, try again."

"Umm... 'Don't worry, little one, for even penguins can fly'?"

"That's right," he said, tickling my ribs and hoisting me into the air. He turned me around in a bunch of circles. It always felt like, if I tried, I really could fly. He lifted me into the air and caught me in a hug. "I'll be around, little one, don't worry, I'll be around." He put me down, left, and despite his presence being gone physically, I still felt him in my heart.

" 'Bye," I whispered. The vision ended.


I woke up breathing heavily. I was sweating and shivering at the same time. I was only getting worse. I threw my pillow out of my bed, not sure where it would land.

"Ow!" said a voice.

"Sorry, Private," I said, looking up.

"That's all right," he said, handing me my pillow back. "How are you feeling?"

"If I have another vision today, we may need a bucket, because I may barf." He stepped away. "But not right now."

"Oh... if you don't mind my asking, what was this vision about?"

"My dad..." I shook a little bit. I missed him even more than my mom. I'm not saying I had a favorite, but Dad and I spent more time together, we were pals. He was my whole world and he was gone. "The leader of The Society, where I came from, forced my dad to work with the furnaces. He used the furnaces for torture, as I sadly found out in my late adolescence. They started out using wood, but they figured out coal was better, so they switched. When they did switch, I never saw my father again. My vision was of the last time I saw him before he left to work the furnaces with coal. I hate my brother."

"Why do you hate your brother?"

"He's not my brother by blood, he passed a law a short time ago saying that everyone in The Society must call him "Brother" or "My Brother." I do not consider him my brother though. He is as slippery as a snake, sly as a fox, and needy as a dog, and he's proud of it." I gripped the sides of my bed in anger. "Private, could you just stay here and talk to me, please? I don't think staying alone to my own thoughts is what I need right now." I coughed.

"All right," he said, pulling up a chair.

"Thank you, Private, I appreciate it." I said as I lay back and closed my eyes. "Don't worry about the fact that my eyes are closed, I'm still listening."

For the rest of the day, each of the boys would talk to me to keep me company... except for Kowalski. He was still busy trying to figure out how to fix the complexity that was my DNA. On the one hand, I felt proud of myself for being so scientifically intelligent, while on the other hand, I wish it would have been easier to fix me. It was Skipper's turn again, and thankfully, he was the best conversation I had out of all three of the boys. He would tell me stories about his missions and I, as any girl would, ate them up. It was way better to hear stories than to hear stuff about Luna-corns or watching explosions. Both experiences were traumatizing in two different ways.

Kowalski came out of his lab, took a fish, swallowed it quickly, and went back into his lab. Skipper was in the middle of his story about Dr. Blowhole and I couldn't help but groan when Kowalski didn't come over.

"What's the matter, Valerie? I thought you were liking the story," said Skipper.

"I was, but Skipper, could you please ask Kowalski for a status report? It's not like I'm getting better by the hour," I said. I twisted onto my stomach, then, thinking better of it, I went back onto my side.

"I can do that," said Skipper.

"Thanks," I said. He went into Kowalski's lab and I put my pillow over my head. I don't know how much more attention I could take. I heard the fishbowl entrance scrape on the ceiling, indicating someone was coming in. I groaned.

"Hey, Valerie," said Marlene.

"Oh, someone else to see me, how refreshing," I said sarcastically. I pulled the pillow away from my head.

"Whoa!" said Marlene. She jumped behind the table.

"What? What is it?"

"Your eyes are like glowing blue!"

"Really? Huh, that's an interesting development... I wonder if I can see in the dark... or maybe my ability to see better in the dark is enhanced." I mused.

Rico came in and said, "Whoa."

"Rico, would you mind giving me a mirror for a second?" I asked. He puked one up and I looked into it. While it was fading, it was undeniable that my eyes had been glowing a bright blue. "Minor setback, but on the plus side, my headache is almost gone."

Marlene got out of her hiding place. "What's been going on?"

"Science gone wrong, my fault," I said.

"Wow," was all Marlene seemed to be able to say.

Thankfully, we didn't have long to sit around, since Kowalski came out of his lab. "I have good news and bad news," he said.

"Goody... tell me the bad news first," I said.

"The bad news is that if you have many more visions, you will die," said Kowalski.

"Could you give me a number?" I asked.

"Uh... I would expect about three to five more visions... give or take."

"And the good news?"

"The good news is that your mutation is particularly amazing. You have the ability to see in the dark, throw out energy blasts, and you still have the ability to see into the future."

"Oh, bloody goody," I said, groaning. "I have never not wanted the ability to see into the future more than I do right now."

"Are you still experiencing any pain?"

"No, needles running up and down my spine and tickling my liver is incredibly un-painful." I looked at Kowalski harshly. "You were in your lab all day and all you came up with was stuff I already know. When you have something useful to tell me, let me know."

"Actually, I may have a way to fix this."

"Well then, what's the hold-up? OW!" I gripped my sides. I got my breathing down, but I noticed my vision blurring again, so I increased my heart-rate again.

"Are you okay?" asked Private.

"No, no, I am not okay, I am in misery. Kowalski, what's the cure? How is this fixed?"

"Well... the only way to fix it is a formula. This formula would take your abilities from you, but you would also lose your sight," he replied.

I had my mouth open to say something, but I thought better of it. "Let me think about it, just one night, let me think about it."

"All right, take all the time you need," said Kowalski. He gave me a remorseful look and they all walked away. Alone again, I thought.

"Naturally," I responded to my brain.


I wrote in my journal a little bit. It was a struggle to finish though. I kept shaking from the pain. I couldn't tell anyone about it though. It was sad that after all this time I wound up like this. I finished the entry, but just barely.

Day Three Complete.


Yikes! So, what's going to happen now? I'll try to update as much as possible, but this story is not pre-written, so keep that in mind. Please keep reading and reviewing, thanks :)