I was dressed in a completely inappropriate shade of pink. Some knucklehead had thrown a red shirt into the laundry with my white naval uniform. Although I had requisitioned a replacement from the quartermaster, it hadn’t arrived yet.
I couldn’t even skip the event. It was my promotion after all.
“Are you making some kind of a statement?” I was most often asked.
“Yes,” I said. “My bunk-mates are idiots.”
After receiving my new insignia of rank, there was an official dinner. Being on the ship, it was tight. There was nowhere to hide. My pink uniform stuck out like a pimple among the invariable white outfits around me.
Across the table, Eloise could not contain her mirth. Her eyes twinkled with delight, loving every minute of my humiliation. Eloise was my half sister, but everyone thought she was my cousin.
“How do you like the soup?” she asked me. “Is it like Mom used to make?”
We had different mothers, and Eloise thought mine coddled me. “Well, if I spill some, it couldn’t make my attire any worse.”
The captain clapped me on the shoulder, causing my spoon to shake. “Don’t worry, this will blow over and be soon forgotten, Lieutenant Pink.” Everyone at the table stopped. “Fink, I mean. Sorry.”
That sealed it. Forever more I would be Lieutenant Pink. I buried my face in my hands and groaned. Through my fingers I saw Eloise snicker. “This is a good thing,” she said. “It might’ve been too confusing having two Lieutenant Finks on the same ship. Now we’re Fink and Pink.”
While the rest of the officers chuckled, I wanted to throw my soup at her.
As a gift, my partner gave me The Writer’s Toolbox (https://www.amazon.ca/Writers-Toolbox-Creative-Exercises-Inspiring/dp/0811854299), which contains exercises to work the creative brain. The above prose was the result of a time-boxed effort starting with the random first sentence: “I was dressed in a completely inappropriate shade of pink.” I used the Hemingway Editor (https://hemingwayapp.com/) to write in, and was amused by it highlighting that given sentence as needing work.
Part way through the exercise I threw in the random non-sequitur: “Eloise was my half-sister, but everyone thought she was my cousin.” Yup, that’s pretty random!
Finally, I am astounded how quickly I found the featured image of someone wearing a pink naval uniform on the internet. I guess I shouldn’t be.