Colorfed's mown lawns were as white as snow. Lots of fresh foods were still uncolored. But colorful imported foods were available, but limited. Shipping was once or twice bi-monthly to the town. The auctions weren't as frequent so money was tight. And foods with color stayed in very high demand and consumption. Harrodean and Phenny grabbed a few colorful fruits from the market along the way. When they got far enough away, they stopped to eat the fruit.

Harrodean peeled the banana-kiwi hybrid fruit. She ate it slowly savoring its mild yet sweet to tart flavor.

Phenny ate the pummelo. The sweeter but tangy taste was an epiphany. They each had a hidden rose apple tucked away in their pockets for later.

Phenny finished eating and could hear nothing but his sister calling his name.

Harrodean dropped the empty banana-kiwi peel on the ground.

He was hot but the heat of his body made him cold as ice. The coldness incited a thermal reaction and he had an acidic febrile seizure. His sweat was caustic to the touch as Harrodean wiped it away from his forehead with a sweep of her hand. She flinched. She looked at her fingertips and saw they were only mildly burned. The wetness of his sweat aggravated her sandy condition.

A solidness trickled along the pattern of her fingerprints, settled there and throbbed like a hematoma. It worked its way through her tissues and she dried from the inside out. The rawness of her insides tapered like shoots of bamboo, crackling from the coarseness of her breathing.

Harrodean stood upright rigidly. Her movements were that of a person on stilts. She put her arms around Phenny's waist urging him to stand on his feet. His teetering balance tipped her backward with the unsound movements of a lean-to pushed by a wind. He fell flat on his face barely an inch from where Harrodean was. She heard the blaring of sirens whizzing by tossing mineralized soil scattering its graham cracker-like crumbs in her Toni Basil hairstyle with bangs and the front of her short V-neck dress with the paisley pattern.

A shadowy bubble eclipsed the digital dusk. The balloon zoomed in on her features very closely casting an awkward shade over the invasion of her personal space. The boiler operated above the boiling point of water, superheating the steam delivered to the envelope eliminating any chance of mist forming as the steam-powered balloon rose and fell in the sky.

An uneasy feeling throttled her forcing her to gulp and swallow. She raised a furrowed brow. She raised her head slightly but quickly withdrawing, lying flat on the ground looking up at it. She turned her head nervously and rigidly from lack of space between her face and the balloon approaching land. She rolled over and away from it. "Phenny are you ok? Phenny?"

"Yeah, I have dirt in my nose," Phenny said with a muffled nasally sound. He turned over slowly on his back bumping into Harrodean. He sneezed so hard his body forced itself into the upright position. He rubbed his nose. Harrodean sat up. Phenny grimaced balancing himself with his hand flatly on the ground and up on his feet. Harrodean stood up dusting the debris from her hair and clothing.

A twenty-four year old woman leaned over the basket. She had light brown hair in a flipped bob hairstyle, expressive brown eyes, full cheekbones and a gorgeous square-shaped jawline. She wore a red and black flannel dress. She was half-African-American, Choctaw-Curaçaoan and Iranian.

"Hey, you two want a ride out of here?" the woman asked.

"No more hitching rides," Harrodean said shaking her head, stiffening her lower lip upward.

"Ok, suit yourself. But I'm sure you don't want to be hanging around here in Colorfed."

"Yeah, you're right," Harrodean and Phenny said in unison. They climbed into the basket. Phenny raised a brow as he and Harrodean tumbled in at the girl's feet. He nudged Harrodean who sat upright. She mouthed the word, "What?" Her brows furrowed, shrugging her shoulders. He sat up as the steam-powered balloon started to lift off the ground into the sky. His eyes shifted toward the woman's feet. Harrodean followed the direction of his eyes. She saw the woman had backward feet.

"Never seen a girl barefoot before?" the woman cocking her head to the side with a raised brow.

"Must be hard finding shoes?" Phenny asked. Harrodean elbowed him in the ribs for his silly remark.

"No, I feel more comfortable flying in the steam balloon without them. "I'm Moundie Bo and this is ProudPop, my best friend and co-host." Moundie Bo nodded toward the twenty-five year old human.

"What brought you to Colorfed?" Harrodean asked.

"We're the RadioTories. We were in town doing our radio show in Colorfed to raise money to help the residents there. And you?"

Harrodean sighed. "It all started...."