The TV shook in its place when Juniper ran down the stairs. Her favourite program was about to start, and she would not miss the new episode.
The words "Program Imaginaria" shone in many shades of grey over the head of a young man with shiny black hair. His smile came out as every other on the TV, confident and painful. His cheeks painted in a bright tone gave the impresion he had not relaxed his face in a long time.
The camera lowered to focus only into his face to start the show, but Juniper already knew the words that would come out of his mouth. After all, he repeated the same introduction since the show had started a few weeks ago.
-Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, assembled guests, and I welcome you all to a new day inside the rooms of the Imaginators!- The man's voice was shot out of the TV in a loud tone before Juniper remembered to lower the volume. She jumped out of the sofa and turned the wheel by the side of the TV to the left before the front man could resume.- Today, we will be gifted with the sight of the transformation of an Imaginator. Boy does that sound like a tongue twister!
Fake laughs sounded in the background; Juniper laughed by their side.
-As you may remember from yesterday's program, Claire Jeong displayed her ability to change bodies with just her mind.- The man opened his eyes wide just as the camera zoomed towards his forehead before correcting itself- Of course she has yet to master her powers, not being able to change other people's bodies, but her own is already in great development..
Juniper stat up and scratched her hair. Now was the moment when the Imaginator was presented, and when the different laboratories and companies placed their bets. Today was another goodbye to another participant, and even if this young girl staring at the TV had never met the participant, she felt a weird exagerated conection with this Claire.
Then she came out.
The girl was beautifully dressed in a long-to-the-floor dress made of stunning feathers of all shapes, and that was when Juniper wished she could see those colours, but she was not allowed to imagine anything.
Juniper looked arround, shaking her head to a side and then to another, stoping just a moment to stare at herself in the mirror. She imagined those feathers dancing arround her body, flowing from her shoulders down to her hips, knees and eventualy even toes. She imagined what kind of shoes she could wear, perhaps purple, or yellow, or as her mother had said, that black that mixes with every colour. But she though that was too boring to be true.
However, as she was staring at herself in the room mirror, the show had not stopped to wait for her. The show producer had walked up to the stage, presenting Claire to a few men and women in a live audience. Some wore lab clothing, some others wore stunning clothes almoust as if dressing up for children, but none of them were exited as Juniper was. The girl wanted to see the Imaginator display her ability, but these women and men only wanted to put a price on such gift. At least that was what Juniper's mother had complained about.
The ring on the door startled the spectator, and in a rush she turned off the TV. She was not allowed to watch it.
Father had arrived earlier than expected, and if that was the case, he had gone to the market.
-Juno!
A deep male voice called from outside. Juniper's father needed help with the things he had brought. Juno sprinted out and helped him get the bags inside, but she could not do it fast enough as to escape the inevitable conversation her father was forming for them in his head. Once the last bag was emptied into the fridge, her father spoke his script.
-How was your day?
-Average, dad. Since I quitted school every day is the same.- Juniper rolled her dark eyes, yet her father could read though the joy that made them bright.
-No books? No TV? No drawings?- He interrogated with a tint of pitty. Even if Juniper though his father was mean when banning all those things, she should have known from the begining that he was trying his best to keep their family's life safe and inside the law.
-Nope. Just sleeping and staring and eating and bathing.- She answered back.
-Mother will probably be back soon, I'll do a check arround the house and square for any freaks, ok?
Juniper didn't even answer. There was no reason to call the Imaginators that way. Perhaps her mind had been shifted into believing they were on the right after all.
Now, with no TV nor time to imagine, Juno made the choice of heading up her room to make the homework she had promised to complete, yet the singing of the birds outside her window catched her attention.
She couldn't see the birds, nor go out to search for them, and while she was not allowed to imagine them either, she did not follow that single rule.
Juniper closed her eyes and imagined which bird could be singing. Perhaps a blue feathered one, those which shone as the light reflected its feathers. A black bold peak at the top of its head and the colour of her own skin at its claws. Coal like beak, yet hard as diamonds, twisted up and opened wide to let the sound swim away. Entering its beak and inside her body, Juniper remembered everything she had learned about animals from her few years at school. Organs, bones, cells and nutrients, everything she had just to a smaller scale. Different number of chromosomes, different genetic material, everything that was needed to create a living being that was like her, just different.
She imagined the perfect bird.
And it flew through her window just like she had imagined.
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