On Saturday evening, Maya stayed late in the school art room, finishing a poster for the annual wellness fair. Her teacher had given students a strange assignment: create an image using colors that represented their emotions. Maya laughed at first, thinking the task was childish. Yet when she looked at the crowded design, one color seemed impossible to ignore. It was a deep red hidden between blue waves and green leaves. The longer she stared, the stronger the feeling became. Red reminded her of her father’s old workshop, where she had spent childhood afternoons watching him paint furniture. She had not thought about that place in years, but suddenly she remembered the smell of wood, the sound of his radio, and the bright red toolbox he always carried.

Maya tried to replace the red with yellow, hoping to make the poster happier. However, the red kept drawing her eyes back. Then she noticed something strange: beneath the red paint was a tiny black shape she had never drawn.