The reds and the blues had been fighting forever. But it could have been the greens and the yellows. Or the blacks and the whites.

Now the stalemate, the exhaustion, had to become a peace, a peace that carried forward, a peace of people working together and looking to the future.

Everyone agreed until they talked about symbols. Red and blue striped skins? Gentle slanting flashes, colour on colour? Or a gradual shading of red and blue along the years until skins reflected a shared understanding?

Then the scratching began again.