The Color Rooms

Where am I?

        My eyes pop open. All I see is white. I blink a few times, but still, I can only see white. My legs ache, and I realize I'm lying down. I stand up, my head swimming. Where am I?
        I can see I'm in a white room. There are no doors or windows anywhere. On one wall, the number 1 is painted in black. At my feet is a journal, with a pencil strapped to its cover. I pick it up and open it to the first page.
        " 'Dear Maddie Jay,' " I read aloud before pausing. That name rings a bell. Who is Maddie Jay? Am I Maddie Jay? "I don't even know anymore!" I shout. Then I take a deep breath and keep reading. " 'Yes, that is your name. You are reading this journal right now.' " So I'm Maddie Jay? " 'You're probably very confused, and I don't blame you. This will answer your questions.' " I scan the rest of the page. There are a few more paragraphs. " 'First of all, you're in the first of a sequence of rooms. These are the Color Rooms. There are 10 of them. Each one is a certain color, and each one has a certain challenge.' " I stop to mull this over. I have to solve these tests to get to the last Color Room? Why? Why am I here? What is this? Who wrote in the journal? How do I do this? I bite my lip and continue reading.
        " 'When you solve the 10th room, you will escape from the Color Rooms. You can go on living your life like a normal child. But until you solve all 10 rooms, you will be stuck in the Color Rooms. You're probably wondering who I am. I am the first of the Three Masters. My name is Hugh. Ha, ha. Get it? 'Hue'? As in, a shade of color?' " I snort before catching myself - whoever this 'Hugh' is, I should not be enjoying his jokes. " 'I've sent you here to restore colors to the world. Why, you may ask? Well, I need you to restore color because the Earthlings got so carried away that they eliminated it. They dug up precious metals, they sliced down forests, they cleared acres of sacred land to accommodate their growing population. There are no more animals, either - except for humans. There are not even any biomes: the entire Earth is covered in cities; rows and rows of monotonous gray buildings. So I want you - no, I NEED you - to restore colors to the Earth. That will be enough until we can figure out how to restore animals and biomes, too.' "
        Memories begin to flow back. I remember standing in line with other people, all of us dressed in gray, all of us holding gray plates, waiting for gray food to be squeezed onto the dishes. I remember lying in a hard, gray, bed. I remember listening to a monotone voice droning on and on about 'mandatory education.' I can even vaguely remember - from back when I was very, very young - what the Earth used to be like. I pranced about in an area of bright green grass in front of a cream-colored house. I sat at a brown desk with lots of other children dressed in colorful clothing. I dragged a yellow pencil across crisp white paper, leaving a black line.
        I look at the journal entry again. " 'Your first challenge is to solve the White Room. I wish you the best of luck, Maddie Jay. -Hugh.' "