Once upon the here and now, there was a boy who didn't like orange. It didn't matter if it was a picture, a toy or just a piece of paper. The fact was, if it was orange, it made him shaky, upset and just plain nervous. He didn't know why he was so afraid of this particular color, but when he saw orange, he let out a screech like this: "AUGG-HAG-GGG!!"

But the real problem was that nobody knew about the Orange Issue. His sister and parents didn't even know that orange was one color that drove him BONKERS!!

To make matters worse, Willy sometimes had a difficult time explaining things.  And this fear of orange—well how could anyone explain that? It wasn't because Willy wasn't smart. The truth was, Willy had an excellent mind. He could memorize whole pages at a time and he knew every line from the movie "Forrest Gump". But try as he might, he was unable to explain this thing about orange. So pretty soon, people stopped asking him about his problem, and started asking each other.

"What's the matter with Willy?" his mother asked his sister Jenny one day when she noticed Willy shaking all over.

"Who knows?" said Jenny as she bounced a big orange ball.

"AUGG-HAG-GGG!!" Willy screeched as Jenny bounced the ball up and down in front of Willy.

"Stop that screeching right this minute!" his mother said.

When Willy couldn't stop, his mother sent him to time-out.  Willy hated time-out, but at least he was away from the orange ball.

Still, Willy was miserable. And frustrated. And really really worried.

The nightmare of orange was fast approaching. School was starting and Halloween was just around the corner. How in the world would he ever make it through another Halloween season? He'd been lucky last year because he got COVID two weeks before Halloween. Then Jenny got it too and then his parents. The timing was great! He'd missed most of the orange barrage. But what about this year?

And then Willy discovered a trick. If he shut his eyes very tightly, he wouldn't have to look at any orange objects. To his delight, it seemed to him the problem was solved. If something orange got into view, he simply closed his eyes.

The first day of school, Willy bounded down the sidewalk. He was one happy kid. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't nervous about orange. He jetted into the school and down the hall and into his classroom. He liked Mrs. Fipps.  She was standing with her back to the door and when Willy was just inches away she turned, and he came face to face with her.

"AUGG-HAG-GGG!!" Willy screeched, and he started shaking all over.

He hadn't been quick enough to close his eyes. Mrs. Fipps was wearing the brightest orange lipstick ever created!

Willy quickly regrouped. He closed his eyes and squinted down at the floor and walked around the classroom. He tipped his head way back so he could find which desk had his name on it, and then quietly took his seat. Ever so slightly, he squinted his eyes and looked carefully around to scope out any possible orange obstacles.

For the rest of the day, he did just fine. If Mrs. Fipps-Orange Lips came near him, he simply closed his eyes. And Willy thought he was rather clever to have found a solution to the Orange Issue.

From Willy's point of view, the rest of the week went very well. He did his work, raised his hand to answer questions, respected his neighbor's space and stayed safe. If he walked by the bulletin board with all the orange leaves, he just squinted his eyes and looked down at the floor. If the kids were playing with orange balls at recess, he went to the other side of the playground. He even solved the orange tray problem at lunch by taking cold lunch. When Mrs. Fipps-Orange Lips came around, he closed his eyes and answered her questions politely.

The hours turned into days and the days turned into weeks and The Great Pumpkin Blast was upon the entire world. Willy just closed his eyes tighter than ever.

But Mrs. Fipps-Orange Lips was so concerned that Willy wouldn't make eye contact, that she put him on "Look-at-me-when-I'm talking-to-you" program. After three days of upside-down happy faces on his behavior card because he STILL wouldn't look at her, she finally gave up. She just sighed and said, "Willy, Willy..." and her voice would trail off like she had something more to say, but she never finished her thought.

Somehow, some way, in spite of orange pumpkins everywhere, orange crepe paper streamers in the classroom and the halls full of the students' artwork in orange and black, Willy made it through the Halloween season. And then it happened.

The entire class was going to the swimming pool to take lessons. Willy didn't know how to swim, so he was pretty excited about learning. He could just see himself winning a gold medal someday for the breast stroke, or swimming the English Channel. Or diving off the cliffs at Acapulco, or...well the possibilities were endless! Yes, he really wanted to learn to swim, so he went to the pool with his eyes wide open.

That's when it hit him. The worst bombardment of orange since The Great Pumpkin Blast. Floating in the water were orange balls tied to a string the entire width of the pool. Some of the kids had on orange life jackets and hanging on the wall were large donut-shaped life preservers! Even the life guard was wearing an orange vest!

"AUGG-HAG-GGG!! AUGG-HAG-GGG!!" Willy screeched, closing his eyes and shaking all over.

Mrs. Fipps shouted at him, "Look out Willy Willy-You're- So –Silly! You're going to fall into the..."

Too late! Ker-SPLASH! Into the deep end of the pool went Willy.

Willy floated to the top just as the life guard dove in. He saw the orange vest.

"AUGG-HAG-GGG!! Glub, glub, glub..." Down he went again.

Again he floated to the top, just as somebody threw the orange life preserver.

"AUGG-HAG-GGG!! Glub, glub, glub..." and down he went again!

The next thing Willy knew, somebody was grabbing him and pulling him out of the pool to safety. He was coughing and trying to catch his breath. He heard his teacher's voice.

"Willy, Willy-You're-So-Silly, are you alright?"

Willy opened his eyes and there, just inches away, was Mrs. Fipps-Orange-Lips. He was never so happy to see anybody in his life!

"Y-y-you—you saved my life," he stammered. How can I ever thank you, Mrs. Fipps-Orange-Lips!"

Willy was looking right at her. He wasn't shaking. He wasn't screeching. He couldn't believe it himself! He was looking right at her orange lips!

Then the lifeguard came over to check on him. The orange vest was like a neon sign, but Willy didn't start shaking and he didn't close his eyes, and wonder of wonders, he didn't screech!

Now Mrs. Fipps-Orange-Lips was talking to him again. "Willy Willy-You're-So-Silly, if you're feeling okay, let's go back to the classroom."

Everyone was so happy that Willy was alright, that they celebrated by having orange sherbet ice cream. Again, Willy faced his fear of orange. Again, he didn't screech or shake!  Then he tasted the ice cream. Wow! He'd really been missing out; this was the best ice cream he'd ever tasted! He decided he had been a little silly. He even had a second helping!

Well, that's the end of the story.  Willy never had a problem with orange again, but he did learn some valuable lessons that served him well in the years to come.

1.      Face your fears and determine if they are real or silly.

2.      Go into new situations with your eyes wide open and

3.      Don't screech under water.

The End