Furaha and Orko were out shopping in the supermarket. Optimus Prime was waiting for them outside so they could put the groceries into him and return home to have dinner. It all started well at first. As Orko picked out the groceries, Furaha pointed to each one and said them out loud, because at the age of 4, she was the one riding in the trolley. Lucky little Furaha!
While Orko was pushing the trolley across the market, he talked to Furaha about an adorable black cat with two lovely white whiskers he met at a friends' house the other day. They had talked for ages about where white whiskers come from - either the shops, a shopping channel on the telly or from the God Of Cats who lives in the Great Cat Basket In The Sky. Furaha was just about to debate about when he got them in the mail, when she felt a sense of emotion well up inside her.
Her once golden face turned purple, and her eyes turned bloodshot. For they were just passing the biscuit section. "Furaha, would you like some of your favourite giraffe shaped chocolate biscuits?" There was a long silence, aside from the music playing on the loudspeakers. Then, as if out of nowhere, Furaha began to scream loudly and flail. "What am I doing with my life? I never get to do anything! Who am I?! I never get to know who I am!"
Orko sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. As he paid for the groceries, Furaha plunged headfirst into the back of the trolley, where her screaming got louder and louder. Everyone was staring at her.
As Orko came out of the supermarket and put the bags into Optimus, the large Autobot asked; "Poor Furaha. What's wrong with her?" "What?" asked Orko, trying to be heard over Furaha's screams. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER?!" shouted Optimus over said noise. "It's Furaha. She won't stop talking about how she's tired of being who she is and screaming her ears off." Optimus' voice grew calmer, but a little loud enough for Orko to hear as he said: "It's okay, I know a lot about taming tantrums. Come, let's go home."
Furaha was still screaming back home. "See? She won't stop!" said Orko. "That's the point. She's in the purple zone. When you're in the purple zone, you feel like you're about to cry and throw massive tantrums for no reason at all. That must mean she's emotionally dysregulated. Not only that, but she's also tired too. Come here, Furaha."
Furaha stopped screaming and kicking on the sofa and ran towards Optimus, her eyes red and dribbling with tears. Optimus took her in his giant, gentle arms and cuddled her. "Sssshhhhh….there there, everything's alright. Breathe in…then out. In…then out. I think we should all go to bed. We'll leave our dinner for later." As Optimus took Furaha to the room they shared, Orko sighed. "Thank god, now I don't have to see Optimus' mouth which he hides under his faceplate again."
Optimus tucked the tired, now-calm Furaha into bed, as Orko changed into his pyjamas, which had cool '90s patterns on them. "You go to bed with her, too, Orko, you know she needs more than a teddy to keep her company tonight." Nodding in agreement, Orko yawned and snuggled down beside Furaha, wrapping his thin blue arms around her.
"Well, everyone's happy and calm now." yawned Optimus. "I think I should go to bed too." Optimus snuggled beside Furaha and Orko, protecting them with his mighty, gentle strength and strong on the mattress, as dreams of a nice candlelit dinner filled their minds, and a rainbow formed in the sky outside the house big enough for an Autobot.
Now, do you see the rainbow? 'Cause it might just appear when this happens again….