Story: When the Rainbow Was Torn

When the wind blows, seeds are scattered all around. One particular seed named Timothy flew away and was all alone. He found a spot in the dirt and after a bit of rain, became a beautiful white flower. But something was not quite right. Timothy was alone and missed having a family desperately. His best friends were the clouds that rolled by, but they could never stay for long. One day, a few mean clouds were overhead. They were fighting and angry, so naturally lightning was flying everywhere. Timothy was a little scared and politely yelled for the clouds to leave. Of course, this only made them angrier. The wind picked up as a result and seeds started flying everywhere. This actually made Timothy a little excited because he may get new friends!

Once the clouds finally decided to leave, all was calm again. Suddenly, Timothy saw a pink light up in the sky. A rainbow! Timothy had heard a thing or two about the friendly rainbows from the clouds. “Hello!” Boomed the cloud. Timothy looked around. There was literally only one person he could be talking to, and it was definitely Timothy. “…Hello?” He responded. The rainbow and the little flower talked for a long time until they got to a very sensitive subject. Timothy had always been ashamed that he was a white flower. White flowers were fine, but it was an honor to be a colorful flower. Only certain flowers were special enough to be a color. The rainbow listened and reached down to give his new friend a hug. Little did the two know, but a simple hug gave Timothy a million colors. It looked as if a rainbow had melted right onto his petals.  When the two drew back from the embrace, they noticed Timothy’s new beautiful petals. They were so excited! The two new friends said their goodbyes and promised they would see each other again soon.

After this exchange, things around Timothy started changing for the better. Because of the wind and rain, the new seeds had all sprouted into beautiful flowers. Each of them had their own personality. The six new flowers quickly became Timothy’s family. He was known as the father of the group because of his wise advice and beautiful colors. After all, only the wisest of flowers were special enough to have colors. Timothy eventually became a powerful leader in this new flower colony. He told the stories of the clouds and the rainbow. The other flowers absolutely could not believe that he spent so long alone. He inspired all of the flowers to be nice to the clouds. He taught them that even through a rainstorm, there is something at the end of the tunnel!

Timothy went down in history as boldest colorful flower.  After his death, his seeds blew away in the wind and more colorful flowers just like him were planted. Now whenever someone see’s a bold flower, they think of the lonely flower named Timothy.

Author's Note: I created this story because I love how the flower got his colors! In the original, he was on a cactus and the rainbow got stuck in the thorns. I did not like that mental picture, so I wanted to give it a more friendly approach. Having the rainbow hug the flower meant the flower could still get his colors. I also wanted to emphasize the power of niceness and how alone Timothy was.

Image: Flower from Flickr. 

Bibliography: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends by Florence Stratton. Link to online reading.