Chapter 15
No Best Colour
White Doors
Paul looked at the words he had written.
Courage. Play. Return. Growth. Future. Wisdom. Discovery.
Every Ponco had given him a reason to choose. Every Ponco had also nearly got him flattened, drowned, dropped or permanently divided in half.
“I have made my decision,” Paul said.
The Poncos leaned forward.
“There is no best colour.”
They exploded with objections.
“Impossible!”
“Against the rules!”
“A judge must choose!”
“Then you chose the wrong judge,” Paul said.
He pointed to the white section of the table.
“The Heartlight is white because it contains all your colours. Remove even one and it becomes something else. Red has courage but charges ahead. Orange creates play but forgets fairness. Yellow takes people somewhere but cannot bring them home. Green grows things too quickly. Blue sees the future and misses what is in front of him. Indigo has wisdom but nearly stopped using it. Violet explores but sometimes forgets to learn first.”
The Poncos looked offended, then thoughtful, then offended again.
“Your weaknesses are different,” Paul continued. “So are your strengths. That is why you need one another.”
Ponco Indigo began to clap.
Larry joined him. Then Ponco Violet. One by one, the others followed until only Ponco Orange remained.
“If everyone wins,” he said, “doesn’t that make the game boring?”
“Only if winning was the point.”
The black crack across the white door widened.
Light poured out, but the seven colours did not combine. They struck the walls in separate beams.
The table shook.
“The Heartlight is rejecting the power,” Ronnie said.
“Because it is still being measured as a contest,” Paul replied. “Your machine expects one winner.”
Ronnie looked towards the ceiling.
A vast collection of pipes, cogs and glass tanks began to descend.
“The PoncoVotometer,” he said weakly. “It may require a small adjustment.”
“How small?”
The machine struck the floor hard enough to crack three tiles.
“Smaller than that.”