Color Running

Bursts of red and blue powder exploded into the sky as the music pounded and our feet stomped and our hearts pumped and our voices echoed out upon mountains throughout Nuevo Leon. After our lungs were sufficiently filled with colored talcum we took leave of the crowd and rinsed our mouths out with what little water we had. 

I looked to my three friends; paint clung to them like a second layer of skin.  From a distance I wasn’t sure if I would recognize them.  I spat on the ground, and a black liquid came out.  On each kilometer of the race this spit had been changed depending on the powder being forced on us, red, green, blue….  Now with all the 5 colors combined, it was black and made me resemble an ebola patient.  I imagine my teeth had taken a similar hue, but I had no way of checking.

Suddenly the crowd was in an uproar, the DJs on stage began taunting the audience with shirts, and sweats, and other swag that has little value except in that moment.  Suddenly we were back in and part of the uproar.  A pair of sweatpants came my way and lightning fast I grabbed them.  Well half of them, the other half was in a rather large man’s hand. Our eyes met in a fierce gaze, and I threw out my fist…..to motion a game of rock, paper, scissors.  Rock, my weapon of choice, served me well and trashed his scissors.  

Having reclaimed what was rightfully mine, an excitement swept through the crowd.  It was the last song the DJs were playing and they were tossing out bags of powder left and right.  We were to wait and unleash it all at the same time.  Dias, nueve, ocho, siete, seis, sinco, cuatro, tres, dos, uno!  A rainbow-dust-storm swept through the crowd.  I could no longer tell where I was, but the music was in front of me and the ground below so I continued to jump to the beat until the dust settled.

I noticed the second skin had further engulfed us as we left from the crowd and went to our respected cars to return home.  As of now, cleanup is still underway.  I still blow my nose and see greenish blue come out and part of my forehead is a shade too pink, but luckily the rest is blocked by my clothing.  Slowly the color will fade and disappear from my body, but hopefully, by that time, other types of colors will replace it.