Last week, I mentioned that I finally – finally! – completed a work of allegorical fiction, and I posted the first installment of it here.
This week, I bring you Part 2, in which Flora, our ever-intrepid protagonist, finds herself in the right place at the right time. Enjoy.
During the next few days, the Naysayers made life difficult for the poor Floofs. Over in the school yard, the young Naysayers would trip little Floofs and call them names like “mop brain” and “fluffs.” One Floof, poor Flora, even found herself used as a ball in a game of Ga-ga.
At the town marketplace, the grown-up Floofs were having no better luck. The Naysayers kicked the merchant Floofs out of their stalls, stealing both their stores and their merchandise. All the fruit, all the bread, the clothes – everything – became the property of the invaders. So did their parks, their homes, their schools. The Naysayers took everything and forced the Floofs to live at the edge of the village.
As all of this was going on, a strange thing happened. It started as tiny green wisps, a fuzzy, off-smelling mist surrounding the town. As the Naysayers continued their nastiness, the mist developed into a filthy haze, which settled into a thick, reeking fog. And as the air became more rotten and difficult to breathe, the Naysayers’ beautiful silver coats faded to a dingy, matted olive green.
One smoggy afternoon, Flora made her way through the village square, trying not to cough. She passed by her old house, now inhabited by Nix. She allowed herself one moment of nostalgia to peek in the windows. It was difficult to get a clear view, as the smog had made visibility almost impossible. But she could just make out Nix admiring herself in the mirror.
“Oh, you!” the chief Naysayer said to her reflection. “Aren’t you amazing, you silver star! Here you are with a brand new town, and the world is YOURS!”
As Flora watched Nix, she grew alarmed. It wasn’t Nix’s arrogance that concerned her. No, it was what Nix saw in her mirror – or what she didn’t see. She still thinks she’s beautiful and silver, observed Flora. They don’t see what they’re doing to the air! And they don’t see how the air has changed their coats. They still think they’re perfectly fine!
All at once, Flora got an idea. For the first time in what seemed like ages, things seemed clear. She ran to her family’s tent for her camera, then returned to take a photograph of Nix in all her ugliness. As she snapped the picture, Flora just knew that what she captured would change the course of her town’s history.
Tune in text week for Part 3!
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
Hooray for Flora! She is still trying to be helpful and good. I’m excited to find out what she does with the picture.
Thanks! And I’m just grateful my fifth graders helped me shape this story as well. They were there to get me to see what readers would want and need out of a story like this.