Color looked as if he was on a theatre stage and we, the audience, were watching him nervously. On one hand he had the ball and with the other he was gesticulating, as if he wanted to convince the ball that what he was saying was true.
“When I was young, I thought that fear is a bad thing. I thought that fear freezes us up, makes us unable to move. It takes any control over us and we become spectators of our own lives. When I was young I was afraid of many things. All I dreamt of was to grow up and become fearless.
But time passed and fear continued to follow me everywhere. Now, I was not afraid of the monsters from the closet or of the man in black that was living across the street from us. No. Those small fears were all gone. My fears have grown together with me. As an adult I was afraid that my drawings would not be good enough, that I would never find my path in life or when I met Lumi, that she will never like me.
But I slowly learnt how to overcome these fears and I noticed that as soon as one fear was gone, a new one appeared. These fears were changing according to what was happening in my life. I was very scared when Lumi gave birth to my children, Music and Selfi. I was worried for their future and I feared that something bad would happen to them every time they went outside. I was very afraid of this big trip we all went on. I was afraid to be closed inside the ship with two active teenagers who come up with new ideas every 3 seconds. But those ideas proved to be very useful. So I should have not been scared in the first place.
And I said, all my fears came and went as life continued and I went on new adventures. Along the way I started to see fear as a good friend who will always be there, by my side, helping me clear up my thoughts.
One should never wish to become fearless. You see, there are two types of people: the brave ones and the cowards. The brave people learn to accept their fears and face them; while the cowards let the fears scare them so much that they freeze up and become unable to take control over their own actions.
So I came here, in front of you, Wise Ball, to tell you that I am afraid. I am sure that you already knew what I have just told you. But there is one thing that only I, Color Escu, know.
As afraid as I am, if my loved ones are ever going to be in danger, I will be brave. If the world as I know it, is ever in danger, I will laugh at the sight of fear.
However, right now I am afraid that I will fail this challenge. But if I do, I promise that I will keep on finding new ways to pass the challenge. I will try again and again, until I get Uranus’ seal.
My fears are my friends. My fears reveal the things that are dear to me, the things that I care about and the things that I will protect no matter what. So I will do everything to convince you to give us the seal. My family and Pluto deserve it.
After he was done talking, Color started staring at his shoes, as if he was searching for something. There was silence all around. The shelves now seemed more tall, more cold and more quiet than before and fear was sneaking into the souls of the family. Is our trip going to end?
But the ball to which Color talked, started shining. Its light became so strong that it lighted the entire room, which suddenly became warm and welcoming. So Uranus was not just a frozen planet.
It seemed that we passed the first challenge. We had one left and we were more afraid than ever. It was Lumi’s turn to choose another wise ball and tell it something it has never heard before.