The Color War Read Online Free PDF

his chest was on fire. He swam as if he were being chased. He knew that Melody was watching, and that he was surprising her with a skill he wasn’t supposed to have as a beginner. He knew she would not have believed he had it in him.
    Raymond swam until he couldn’t hear people calling his name, until the sun branded the lake with a hiss. Then he stopped, treading water. In the falling light, he saw a rowboat coming toward him, all planes and angles. The world in that moment was two-dimensional, nothing but stripes and edges and marks. The lines, he realized, were already drawn; even a kindergartner knew that color was meant to stay inside them.
    “Raymond?” Reverend Helm’s voice came from the boat. “Let us help you.”
    For a moment Raymond hesitated. He could see the far shore of the lake now—the whisper of reeds, the bruised sand. He was certain he could make it—but he also was certain they would follow. So Raymond pivoted and swam wearily toward the rowboat. He felt himself being pulled into a shiver of air, tucked onto the narrow wooden seat, wrapped in a clean towel; and he knew as he sat surrounded by their safety that he was drowning.

 
About the Author

    Jodi Picoult is the bestselling author of twenty-one novels, including The Storyteller, The Pact: A Love Story, Lone Wolf, Nineteen Minutes, Keeping Faith, and My Sister's Keeper. Among her other works is the young adult novel Between the Lines, co-written with her daughter Samantha van Leer, and five issues of the Wonder Woman comic-book series. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, Picoult is the recipient of the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, among others. Her volunteer work includes serving on the Writers Council of the National Writing Project, and she is active in promoting youth theater and athletics. She lives with her family in Hanover, New Hampshire.
    Read more of Jodi Picoult’s best stories at Byliner.com
    Photograph courtesy of Jodi Picoult

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