The White & Gold People

By Segun Starchild

In February 2015, the world crazy over the colour of a dress! Sounds trivial doesn’t it, but why was it so significant? Perhaps because it shows the differences between humans and that reality is not what we perceive it to be. Some people saw a black and blue dress while others saw a white and gold dress. How can people see two co

• Language: English
• Publisher: Akasha Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Jan 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781910246191

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Title Page

The White & Gold People

Half-Title Page

Segun Starchild

Akasha Publishing Ltd

Segun Starchild

Segun Starchild is a writer whose previous works include ‘Black Egyptians’, 'The Capability Test' and‘Kamun vs. Leviathan’. He is a self-confessed seeker of ‘The Truth’ and has a great hunger to know the mysteries of life. He has studied the esoteric mysteries of great sages to gain a reputable amount of wisdom and has the blessing of taking a journey through life with confidence and true knowledge of self and kind. He hails from the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria and is for the unification of the African continent. Segun currently lives in London, working as a Dev Ops Engineer and is the director of Akasha Publishing Ltd.

Copyright

Akasha Publishing Ltd

20-22 Wenlock Road

London

England

N1 7GU

Copyright © 2019 by Segun Starchild

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN-13: 978-1-910246-19-1

ISBN-10: 1-910246-19-0

www.akashapublishing.co.uk

[e-mail]

Acknowledgements

To my mother Ajoke,

for being the voice of guidance.

A special thank you to my graphic designers,

Ravi Kumar for the cover design,

‘you’ve done a perfect job, we got there in the end’

and Russell Whittle, for your continued excellence.

A special thank you to my editor Ralitsa,

You were amazing!

Opening Statement

"From this day on,

the world will be divided into two people.

Blue & black, or white and gold."

[Ellen DeGeneres, 27/2/2015]

Chapters

1

The Dress

It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon in the middle of July and most of the college students were winding down from a year of hard work. Dave and Laura were walking through the Beverly Centre Shopping Mall on the cusp of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.

Laura and the rest of the seniors at UCLA were having an end of year party in a few days and she had managed to convince her boyfriend Dave to come out shopping with her for a new dress.

Like most guys Dave didn’t particularly enjoy following his girlfriend around while she was shopping. Laura would visit all the stores, try on nearly everything and take an unhealthy amount of selfies on his phone, which she would pester him to send to her, as her phone often ran out of memory and had a shitty camera. However, being the cunning man that he was, Dave agreed on the premise that he would get to pick out some new lingerie for her to spice things up in the bedroom.

Laura was checking out a cool skirt when her phone beeped to signal a WhatsApp message from her best friend and housemate Angela. She was the same height as Laura, with jet black hair and striking facial features. They had been good friends since the first year of college and kept it going ever since. They shared a house together in Westwood, a North Western LA neighbourhood, home to a stylish student community and a bevy of stars.

Laura opened the message which was a photo with the caption: ‘Hey Laurz! Just bought this black and blue dress for the party. Have you got yours yet? X’

Laura texted back. "Emmm, it’s a great dress, but it’s white and gold Angie, lol!"

Nooo, it’s black and blue! Angela insisted.

Laura wasn’t an argumentative person, far from it but she had an issue with Angela calling the dress black and blue, as it was clearly white and gold. Her face screwed up as she wondered if Angela was winding her up on purpose, or if her friend got hit with a temporary case of colour blindness.

Babe, Laura turned to Dave, who caught him checking out a hot girl in the store, but rather than cause a fuss she left it alone as she needed him to prove a point and settle this momentary madness. Angela just texted me a picture of this dress she just bought. What colour is it?

Is this some kind of joke?

No! What colour is it?

It’s black and blue!

Laura stopped, lifted her hands up and slapped them on her thighs. She looked at her phone again and enlarged the picture just to make sure she wasn’t going crazy.

Are you kidding me? she said disappointed.

No, replied Dave.

Have another look.

Dave looked again. Oo-kay, erm. It’s clearly, BLACK AND BLUE, he said, enunciating the words like she was thick. 

"No, it’s not. It’s white and gold. What’s wrong with you?"

"What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? How is it white and gold?"

Because it IS!

Laura put the skirt back and carried on walking. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you need to get your eyes tested! Laura said flustered. 

Whatever. You’re the one who needs your eyes tested. Angela and I both think the dress is black and blue, so who’s the odd one out here?

Dave was an engineering major, which gave him excellent analytical skills, in addition to which he was naturally witty, and these were things Laura both admired and hated about him. Laura on the other hand was less direct, as she liked to observe and let things happen naturally. Like choosing to ignore Dave checking out the girl in the store because she knew he would probably do the same thing when he wasn’t with her anyway.

His comment about her being the odd one out played on her inner insecurities which would bring out the worst aspects of her character. A woman in her early 20’s was walking to the left of Laura and they were about to walk past each other when Laura stopped her suddenly. Laura pulled out her phone to show her the picture.

Hi, this is totally weird, but can I ask you a question?

The young woman paused for a second, wondering what she was going to be asked. Sure.

What colour is this dress?

It’s black and blue.

Hah. Told you, Dave said laughing.

Laura was getting really frustrated now. She didn’t mind being wrong and could happily admit when she messed up, but when she knew she was right she wouldn’t give up easily!

She began looking at the people in front of her, searching for someone who would maybe think like her.

She picked out a good-looking black guy with locks down to his shoulder, dressed in a red short-sleeved shirt and black knee length jeans.

Hi, excuse me.

He took one earphone out, and paused the music playing on his phone to hear what she had to say.

Hi.

Sorry to bother you, she said smiling.

I know this is totally random, but I’m Laura and this is my boyfriend Dave, we’re having a debate about the colour of a dress.

OK, the guy said bewildered.

What’s your name? Laura asked.

Get to the point, Dave nagged.

I’m LaShawn, he said turning to notice his frustration.

Dave thinks the dress is black and blue. And I keep telling him its white and gold. What do you see?

It’s black and blue, LaShawn replied.

Laura took that badly and her face reflected the disappointment. She was used to not fitting in and was happy being different in her own unique way, so she comforted herself by thinking she had a higher purpose, like she had a major part to play in something epic, but that never stopped the feelings of alienation.

She kept a lot inside and very rarely opened up to people. Being young and in a university environment, she began to feel the alienation even more. University was supposed to be a time to find herself, discover who she was. And right now, the only thing she would find is an empty party of team white and gold. No one else saw the dress in white and gold, and it started to get to her. First Angela, then Dave, and now two passers-by, she had enough and was ready to bow out and call it a day.

LaShawn smiled. Only joking. I was …. just teasing you as I could see it meant a lot to you. I’m like that sometimes. It’s white and gold. Definitely white and gold. I don’t know how anyone else can see something different.

Those words, ones she doubted she would hear, made her day. She admired him for a second and a half, his beautiful dark chocolate coloured skin, his sexy smile and his slim physique and her face lighted up. She was afraid to look at him longer because their encounter would enter the flirting zone. Laura put her hand on her chest breathing a huge sigh of relief. Thank you. You don’t know how much you mean to me.

What. Are you stupid? Dave got mad and grabbed her by the waist walking her to one side. You gonna chat up another guy right in front of me?!

I…didn’t mean it, to say ‘you’. I meant ‘that’. You don’t know how much THAT meant to me. Laura was really embarrassed now and was going bright red. Dave looked at LaShawn like an animal about to defend his mate from a straggler.

LaShawn was a little smaller than Dave but looked like he could handle himself if he needed to. He was about to walk away and leave them to it but changed his mind and walked back to them.

Hey, it’s not that serious. Lighten up.

Dave turned to him, with a face as red as a tomato, and tensed his body up.

Fuck off I’m talking to my girlfriend.

LaShawn stood there, trying to stand his ground without appearing aggressive.

Dave pushed him forcefully.

I said fuck off!

LaShawn’s face changed. Do that again and I promise you, you’ll regret it.

Dave took off his jacket and slung it on the floor ready to fight LaShawn, who calmly stood his ground. As Dave approached him, LaShawn took a step forward standing his ground and they squared off. Laura stepped in between them and pushed them away with her hands outstretched to stop the confrontation.

It’s okay, she said to LaShawn. Just go, please.

Whatever.

LaShawn walked away and looked behind him to make sure Dave didn’t try anything else.

I can’t fucking believe you, Dave said to Laura. You’re flirting with another guy when I’m right here.

I said I was sorry I muddled my words. I meant to say ‘that’ not ‘you’. I’M SORRY! Just get over it. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like I was giving him my number.

You know, these last few months you’ve been so uptight, we’ve barely had sex and all you do is study. I’m in college too remember but I still make time for you.

"Well I’m sorry I can’t be Mr Cool Dave all the time. I’m sorry if I feel the pressure a little more than you. You have been drafted into the NFL already, while I still have to make my future. Give me a break already.

What the hell are you talking about? I have to maintain my grades and be good at football. Where’s all this coming from, are you on your period or something?

I can’t believe you.

Well I don’t know why you’re acting up?

Look, I said I’m sorry. I can’t take it back, it was a mistake. Let’s just sit down somewhere and relax, she said, trying to make amends.

"You know what, I don’t even want to be around you right now. Good luck with your exams. And with your damn dress!"

No. Wait David, please, she reached her hand out to try to stop him from leaving. Dave pushed it away and walked on a few steps, shouting: It’s black and blue!"

Passers-by were observing the lovers tiff and she caught a few uncomfortable stares. Laura felt embarrassed. Had she just had a fight with her boyfriend in the middle of a shopping mall? Over the colour of a dress? Dave was slowly fading away in the distance.

Laura thought about trying to catch up with him, but he was walking fast and seemed pretty angry. Anything she does now would probably just make it worse. She figured it was best to let him cool off and try again a bit later. Dave kept his cool most of the time but had a habit of losing his temper and she was struggling trying to piece together how it escalated so quickly.

Laura was pretty flustered right now and needed to calm down. She decided to get a coffee before continuing with her shopping. As she was queuing up, she heard three girlfriends arguing in front of her: How can you say this dress is blue and black? That’s the complete opposite of what it is, said the brunette.

Look, its blue and black.

"You need your eyes tested. It’s so white and gold."

Emmm, guys, I see blue and brown.

Are you fucking serious. This is weird.

All of you need to be locked up.

Laura breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn’t the only one arguing over it and had met another white and gold person.

She stepped in to talk to the girls.

Sorry to jump in. I actually just had a huge argument with my boyfriend over this.

No way, said the shorter one, perplexed.

Yeah unfortunately, Laura said embarrassed. I see white and gold.

The White and Golder in the group high-fived Laura, and it warmed her soul knowing there where others out there like her.

Thank you, the stranger told her.

"No, thank you, Laura replied. I thought I was the only one who saw white and gold and started freaking." The group of girls left and Laura bought a Frappuccino and sat down. She brought her phone out to message Angela.

Hi Angie.

What’s up?

I’ve had the worst day ever.

Really, what’s going on?

Dave and I were arguing over the dress.

OMD!

I ended up asking this guy LaShawn in the mall what colour he saw and Dave thought I was trying to chat him up.

Why? I thought he wasn’t possessive.

He’s not. It was kind of my fault. I muddled my words and practically said I liked him. 

Oh no.

Yeah, she paused to consider her next words. He was kind of cute though.

Laura you are bad!

They were literally about to kill each other. I had to step in and tell them to cool it.

Wow!

Dave’s so upset with me. Apparently, I’ve been acting like a real bitch because of these exams and he’s really fed up.

"Just give him some space and call later. 

I don’t think he wants to talk to me. I think he wants to break up, he said he didn’t want to see me right now.

Stop guessing, trust me, just give it some time and call him later.

Okay.

Okay. Anyway, I can’t dwell on it too long as I have a job interview tomorrow.

OK good luck. Let me know how it goes.

Will do.

Laura finished her coffee and was ready to go. She felt hurt after the bust up with Dave and couldn’t be bothered to do any more shopping. All she wanted to do was go home and watch some of her favourite TV shows, then prepare for her interview.

Laura wasn’t one for confrontations, especially with people close to her and this dampened her spirits. If she wasn’t happy about something, she would pull a disgruntled face and try to brush it off without raising a scene. She would only say something if someone had gone too far, like when Dave kept her waiting for 45 minutes on a night out. He was lucky to live to see the next day.

Dave and Laura had had a few arguments during their nine month relationship, but this was by far the worst. Laura preferred to vent out her frustrations over the phone or by emails, that way she wouldn’t be so uncomfortable. She wasn’t the type to air her dirty laundry in public, to her it seemed uncultured and unproductive.

On her way out of the Beverley Centre she walked past a dress that made her stop and look. It was the black and blue dress, the one that had gone viral over social media. It was mid-thigh length, with rows of blue and black stitching across the width. A small blue jacket was fitted on the top, and a lovely gold chain with a heart was on the neck of the mannequin.

She questioned why she had seen the dress in white and gold, but nothing came to mind. Angela had already bought it and for a minute Laura thought about getting it too, but she was beginning to have a dislike for those colours. If the same dress was in white and gold, she would have bought it instantly and wearing their dresses together would have made them a ravenous duo. She went in the shop to try on the dress anyway, she couldn’t help but to have respect for its mysterious power and try it on for size. It fit her perfectly, bringing out her voluptuous body and showed off her long legs but clashed with her blond hair.

As she stood there looking in the mirror, she couldn’t help but smile at herself. Dave would be a fool to dump this, she thought as she fitted her boobs and stroked her thighs in the dress. She put the dress back and went to the parking lot to get her car, turning on the radio to listen to the news as she drove home.

***

"A dress has caused a global debate in the last few hours. A picture of a dress posted on the Internet is seen in different colours by different people. Some people see the dress as white and gold and others see it as black and blue. Millions of comments have been posted on social media about the dress, and even celebrities have got involved.

So how did it start? Well, the mother of a bride to be, Mrs Hanover, took a picture of the dress that she would be wearing to the wedding and sent it to the bride. When her daughter showed it to her fiancé, they disagreed on the colour, so decided to post it on Tumblr to settle the debate. That’s when it went viral.

The dress is a product from the retailer Rhapsodie Blues, who have experienced a major surge in sales as a result of the images.

So why do we all see different colours? Science has the answer! It’s about how our brains are wired to see colour.

Neuroscientist Sarah Dabazky explains: I think the cause for differences is much more likely due to perception, which is actually to do with the brain. Our brain is really good at filling in information that’s not actually there. And so the brain is basing what it sees, on its own interpretation of the image.

If your brain thinks this dress should be white and gold based on the interpretation of the picture itself, the lighting, the conditions that the pictures being viewed in, it’s going to build that image as white and gold. The lighting when the picture was taken and the conditions when the picture is being viewed influence the brain to interpret it as either white and gold or blue and black.

It goes back to a popular optical illusion of a picture with white and black squares. You expect the square that looks lighter, to be lighter because it’s in the pattern where it should be lighter, so you can cut the squares out and put them next to each other and see that they are in fact the same colour. But in context your brain is taking that image and its making sense of it.

Everybody’s reality is different. Understanding that what you see is not necessarily what your neighbour sees, the dress is a really good example of that."

Laura sat down on her sofa and tried to contact Dave. She called three times and he didn’t pick up, which made her think he was still pissed off. She decided to text him and apologise once again, asking if they could meet up at the college bar later on. An hour later he still hadn’t responded.

She had done all she could and was sad they hadn’t resolved it and nervous about the situation but decided there was nothing else she could do at the moment. Angela had come back from work and demanded to catch up on all the juicy goss! They ordered pizza, had a few drinks and watched some episodes of ‘Orange Is the New Black.’ At least those were colours they could both agree on.

2

The Awakening

The alarm on Laura’s phone woke her up at six am on the dot. Her room was dark and normally it would take a few moments for her vision to adjust. Not this time. Her sight was an illuminating yellow, it was as if someone had put a mini sun at the back of her head and a fierce bright light obstructed her vision.

Angela, Angela! Laura screamed. I can’t see.

Everything was still illuminous yellow, even when she kept her eyes closed. She rubbed them, hoping that would get them back to normal but it didn’t work. The pain was intense, and she closed her eyes as they seemed to hurt less than when open.

Angela, wake up. Help me, I can’t see!

She opened her eyes, trying to locate the doorway to Angela’s room, but it was so bright and her sockets now hurt like hell. She tried closing her eyes again to interrupt the pain, and held her hands out to reach the walls, on her way to the door. ‘Was this what being blind felt like?’ she wondered. Laura took another step forward, this time stepping hard on the electrical plug of her iPhone charger left carelessly on the floor, which unfortunately for her was turned upside down with the pins facing upright. The pain travelled at lightning speed through the nerves in her body as she stood there blind and helpless in the dark. She lifted her leg up and in doing so kicked the side of a wooden chair, causing her to lose balance and fall flat on her backside.

Ahhh, she groaned, holding her leg in pain.

Angela was finally woken up by the noise and burst into Laura’s room to see what was going on.

Laura, what’s wrong? she asked concerned.

Angela, Laura sounded like a frightened child. Thank God you’re here! I can’t see, everything is bright yellow. I can’t see a thing. I think I’m blind. Everything is so bright yellow, Laura said.

Angela knelt down to reach Laura and put her hands on each side of her face. She pulled her hair back with her right hand and gently moved her face, holding her eyelids up to fully inspect her eyes and they were completely covered in yellow; from the iris to the sclera.

Try opening them again, Angie said.

Laura squinted but it hurt. It was too bright.

I don’t know what to do.

Let’s go somewhere different, Angie suggested.

Angela lifted her up gently and brought her into the living room, where a small refraction of light shone through the window curtains leaving a rectangular trail on the living room floor. A voice in Angie’s head told her to place Laura on the trail of light just to see what would happen.

Try now.

She squinted. It’s not as bright, only slightly, but I can see the difference.

That’s good.

Maybe you should open the curtains? Laura suggested.

The sun’s out. It would probably make it worse, Angela said.

Trust me nothing could be worse than this!

She walked over to the curtains, pulled them aside and opened the windows. The room was as light as day and Laura’s reaction was yet to be seen.

Try again. This time open them fully, OK?

OK. 

But you have to keep them open for ten seconds.

No way!

Come on, Laura. We have to know if this actually works. Opening them for two seconds won’t do any good, you’ll never know.

Angela was able to read her best friend’s face even now and Laura looked disheartened.

Don’t worry, I’m here.

OK. I’ll do it, Laura agreed as she opened her eyes fully.

Ahhh, she screeched.

Keep them open. Angela put her hands on top of her eyelids to keep them open. Nearly there.

Laura closed them again.

Is that better? Angie asked.

Laura wasn’t sure. She gave it a few seconds before responding. The brightness went down a notch.

Yeah. It’s still bright but not as much as before. It’s definitely better, Laura said with a weak smile.

OK, keep them closed. Now we should try………walking over to the window and looking outside. She grabbed Laura’s hand and walked her over to the windows. OK. We’re gonna open them slowly.

Wait, how long for?

Let’s double it, go for twenty seconds.

OK, Laura agreed.

On the count of three. One. Two. Three.

Laura squinted again and made a slight groan.

Keep them open. You’re doing great, that’s five seconds. Just fifteen more. 10, 15, 20. Close! Any better?

Laura waited a few moments and opened them again.

Yeah, that’s better. This is actually working. There was glimmer of hope in Laura’s voice.

Oh my God, that’s great! I think we should go outside, said Angie. She put on her slippers and helped Laura put hers on too. If it felt better then I think there’s no other option now than to look at the sun directly. It’s worth trying, she continued.

Are you sure? Shouldn’t we go to a hospital? asked Laura.

They probably wouldn’t know. Let’s try this first. If it doesn’t work I’ll take you there myself, said Angie reassuringly.

OK, said Laura.

Keep ‘em closed. Laura nodded. They walked out to the road.

OK, the sun is this way, Angie instructed. She grabbed Laura’s hand, and walked her a few steps diagonally. She positioned Laura’s body and turned her head slightly sideways and upwards to face the sun. "OK Laura, you’re facing the sun. When you open your eyes, you’re going to look directly at it until it heals you. I think this will work. Don’t stop looking until it’s fixed! Promise?"

Laura stayed silent.

OK, I promise, Laura conceded.

She opened her eyes whilst Angela stood behind her, resting her head on Laura’s back and trapping her hands to stop Laura from covering her eyes.

"Go on, Laura, you can do it. Believe!"

Staring at the sun was complete agony for Laura. It felt like someone was trying to gauge her eyes out with a laser. Laura screamed, grabbing the loose ends of Angie’s pyjamas and squeezed them tight, panicking from the pain.

The warmth and comfort of Angie’s presence made her dig deeper and endure the suffering. She believed in herself and prayed to a God she didn’t believe in for the pain to stop. She told herself that this was the worst part and something brighter  was ahead.

"Believe," Angie shouted.

Laura really believed.

After what seemed like an eternity (but what was actually one minute) her eyes seemed to have adjusted and the yellow light disappeared, as if someone had just turned the lights off.

Laura stopped screaming.

A few neighbours looked out of their windows and came out of their houses, worried at the sound of a female voice in excruciating pain. The animals also got involved, making noises of barking, chirping, howling and running around frantically. Somehow, they could feel the energy, the change in consciousness, the change of vibration.

The sun shone bright and majestically. It was as if it was emitting holy rays and Laura sensed the difference. The energy made the flowers blossom and heal the entire Earth like an orb bathed in crystal waters. A New Age had ascended onto the world and mankind would be thrust into the epicentre head first.

Laura held her hands out and took deep breaths in through her nose, harnessing the energy and becoming one with nature. After what seemed like an initiation into a secret society of eternal spirit beings, Laura felt refreshed, energised and blissful like never before.

She turned around and gave Angie the sweetest hug ever.

Thanks, Angie. You’re the best.

No problem. You know you’re my girl.

Laura let go of Angie and looked around the two of them. It was like a baby’s first sight after being released from the womb, the world looked new to her as if it was touched by the hand of God.

"Everything is so clear, crystal clear. Oh my God, I can see everything to the finest detail. It’s amazing. Can you see this?"

See what? asked Angela completely unaware of Laura’s enhanced sight.

It’s like a sparkling crystal world. Oh my God Angie, you look so beautiful. You have colours emanating from your body. You’re glowing in light green and purple.

People around were smiling, like they just had a meeting with angels, so Angie knew they must have experienced the blindness as well.

"Really?" said Angie, unsure of what to make of Laura’s new-found senses.

"And the trees and plants, I can see a light glow above them as they become energised by the sun. I can see the spirits of animals and feel the