The sky was pink and cyan.
Not the soft pastels of a sunset, nor the streaky morning glow that faded into blue—it was just there, a solid, unwavering pink-and-cyan stretch that hung over the rooftops of Munich. It should've been weird, but no one seemed to notice.
Alex certainly didn't.
At six years old, he had far more important things on his mind.
Like the fact that today, he was finally starting school.
He sat at the kitchen table, swinging his legs under the chair as he stared at the large Schultüte propped against his cereal bowl. The cone-shaped bag was as tall as his torso, wrapped in glossy blue paper patterned with tiny rockets and stars. He hadn't opened it yet, but he already knew what was inside: candies, pencils, a small notebook, maybe even a toy.
"Excited?" his father asked, ruffling Alex's messy dark hair as he sat down beside him.
Alex nodded enthusiastically. "Mhm! I wanna do math!"
His dad laughed, a deep, amused sound that made Alex grin wider. "You'll be the only first-grader in history who actually wants to do schoolwork."
"Math is fun," Alex insisted, grabbing his spoon and digging into his cereal. "You can make numbers do anything if you know the right way to move them around!"
His father hummed, stirring his coffee. "That so?"
"Yeah! Like… okay, what's 9 times 9?"
"81."
"Okay, now take the numbers apart! 8 plus 1—what's that?"
"Nine," his father answered, and Alex grinned triumphantly.
"See? It loops back! It's all connected!"
His father chuckled, shaking his head. "I swear, if you don't end up a mathematician, I'll be shocked."
Across the table, Alex's little sister kicked her feet against her chair, humming a tune only she knew. She was still in her pajamas, hair a wild mess of golden curls, eyes darting between Alex's Schultüte and her own mostly-empty breakfast bowl.
"I wanna go to school too," she whined, pushing her spoon around.
"You will, in a few years," their mother reassured her from the kitchen counter. She was fixing Alex's school bag, double-checking everything like she always did before a trip. "For now, you get to go to kindergarten and play all day!"
"But I wanna do math too!"
Alex laughed. "I can teach you!"
Their father leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of coffee. For a moment, he stared out the window at the sky—just a second too long. His fingers tapped against the mug.
Then he shook his head, muttering, "Weird color today…"
Alex tilted his head. He hadn't really thought about it before, but now that he looked, the pink and cyan stretched across the whole sky, almost like a watercolor painting before it dried.
"I like it," Alex decided.
His father exhaled through his nose, as if he were holding back another thought, and just ruffled Alex's hair again. "Then I guess it's a good sky for a first day."
And just like that, breakfast continued.
Later, at School…
The schoolyard of Sinai All-Day Primary buzzed with life. Parents chatted, children showed off their Schultüten to each other, teachers herded students toward the doors.
Alex barely paid attention to any of it.
His gaze was on the sky.
Now that the day was moving forward, the colors were blending—the cyan deepening, the pink softening into something more familiar. It looked almost… intentional. Like someone had brushed paint across the horizon just for him.
"Alex!"
A familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
His mother was crouching in front of him, adjusting his backpack straps. "Listen to your teacher, okay? Be polite, make friends, and have fun."
"I will!"
"And don't forget to eat your lunch!"
"I won't!"
She smiled, standing up and patting his head. "That's my boy. Now go on—first grade awaits!"
Alex took a deep breath. He clutched his Schultüte a little tighter.
Then, with one last glance at the strangely colored sky, he stepped forward into the school building.
His first day had begun.