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Constance was always the quiet one, observing the world with more wonder than most of her peers. She has a brother, Mason who was always the center of attention Unlike Constance, Mason was born with an incredible ability to manipulate anything into whatever he likes.
One afternoon, when Constance was about seven, Mason was showing off his latest power trick at the family barbecue. He was juggling a series of objects—spoons, plates, even a flowerpot—molding and reshaping them mid-air with just a flick of his wrist. As usual, the crowd of friends and family clapped and cheered, calling him a “true prodigy” and showering him with admiration.
Constance sat off to the side, playing with a plastic toy car, not minding the fact that everyone’s eyes were on Mason. She tried not to let the envy simmer, but it was hard not to compare her dull life to Mason’s glittering one.
That was when she did the first thing she hadn’t even meant to. She was staring absentmindedly at the toy car in her hand, wishing it wasn’t so plain and unexciting, when—without thinking—she focused hard, just trying to make it… something. Anything. Suddenly, the red car changed to a bright, vivid blue. Constance blinked, thinking she was seeing things. She looked away, rubbed her eyes, and then stared at it again. The blue stayed for a few seconds, before fading back to its original color.
She gasped.
“Mason! Look! I—I made it blue!” she called out, holding the toy car up to show him, her voice filled with disbelief.
Mason glanced over, still juggling his floating flowerpot. “Nice, Connie. Did you draw on it or something?”
“No! It just changed! I—I didn’t do anything!” she stammered, holding it tighter. “It was blue!”
Mason raised an eyebrow but didn’t pay much attention. “Yeah, sure. Good one,” he said, shifting his focus back to his trick.
Constance frowned. She was ecstatic about what had just happened, but everyone—especially Mason—seemed so used to the extraordinary that her little trick didn’t even register.
Still, it was enough to spark a new sense of curiosity. Later that night, in the quiet of her room, Constance pulled out a few of her toys and focused all her attention on them—willing them to change. The toy car flickered to blue again. Her shoes shifted from brown to a dull pink. And with a little more effort, her blanket turned a deep green before reverting back to its usual shade.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make her grin, feeling like she’d just uncovered something unique. It wasn’t as flashy or awe-inspiring as Mason’s powers, but maybe as she grows older and wiser she'll learn to control things just like her brother.
Now in her twenties, even when nothing has changed the way she wanted it to Constance has turned her unique ability to change the color of objects into a surprisingly successful career in design. Though it’s not the world-changing power she once imagined, she now works as a freelance graphic designer, specializing in color schemes and branding. She often gets lost in the process of altering hues and gradients, making her work feel as though it’s subtly shaped by her gift. Clients never know the true origin of her work, but her eye for color is undeniable.
Her ability to change colors, though still fleeting, became an unexpected asset in her work. She would often use her subtle power to experiment with color palettes, adjusting the shades in real-time to match a client’s vision perfectly. Her designs weren’t the boldest or most eye-catching, but they had a unique warmth to them—small, thoughtful touches that made her stand out in a crowded industry. She learned to embrace the quiet creativity in her work, finding beauty in the details that others overlooked.
Mason, on the other hand, had become a well-known and highly sought-after consultant in the field of advanced technology and design. His involvement in the digital world, architecture and futuristic devices was immensely successful working with large tech firms. His name would be seen attached to cutting-edge projects and innovations. He was the kind of person people marveled at, the kind whose abilities seemed limitless. With his boundless ambition and larger-than-life abilities, he left their small hometown behind and moved to the heart of Nova Vale, a utopian city built on the ideals of harmony between technology and nature.
Glass skyscrapers rise alongside lush green spaces and vertical gardens, with the air purified by bio-filters. The heart of the city is the Central Sphere, a floating hub of innovation, surrounded by a network of glowing transport tubes that connects districts seamlessly. Powered by renewable energy, Nova Vale is self-sustaining, with autonomous vehicles and quiet, efficient public transport.
Despite the grandeur the Nova Vale entails, Constance, had never felt the pull to leave. Above all that, she cannot leave her parents alone while Mason became somewhat of a fictional celebrity in the news. She stayed in their hometown, living in her childhood home with their parents. Her life was quieter, simpler—she continued working as a freelance designer, focusing on the little things, finding beauty in the small, quiet moments others might overlook. She still used her gift of color-changing, but in a much subtler way, like a gentle reminder to herself that even the smallest change could bring something new to the world.
