• On the Origin of Rainbows
    By Sminkyalc


    If flowers were to have a civilization like our own, I believe that the daisy would be of the class of people that are so beautiful in their simplicity that they hardly get recognized for it. They do not get the praise that they deserve. But on some rare occasions a person will walk past a field of daisies, and they will stop and notice how the sun seems to smile on the daisies. And when it rains, the daisies appear to be smiling back, like hundreds of brilliantly golden suns.
    In the beginning, all flowers had colors. Wonderful shades of pink and purple, brilliant blues and gentle greens covered the land in a soft blanket of beauty. All of the flowers shown and reveled in their health and beauty; but one stood out from the rest with its sheer purity or color: the daisy. Many of the other flowers were jealous of the daisy, and they would complain that the daisy got special treatment and that they did not deserve the beauty they had. The daisy was not an arrogant flower though, and it always replied with the utmost gratitude;
    “Our Beauty is not our own,
    It is the Sun that gives us brilliance
    The Rain that lets us shine
    Do not accredit us
    With that which is not ours”
    The other flowers never knew what to say to this, so they went on with their business.
    The Daisies knew that all of their beauty was due to the Rain and the Sunshine. They felt infinitely grateful and so they asked for the Rain and the Sunshine to come down from the sky so that the Daisies could speak with them.
    “For what is it for
    That you beckon us hither
    From our home up high”
    The Sunshine and the Rain called. The Daisies replied,
    “We wanted to say,
    Nay, we wanted to show,
    Our devotion to you
    Is of the truest form of true
    This you must know”
    The Rain and the Sunshine did know this. However they did not feel that it was necessary. They just loved to give themselves to the Daisies to make them beautiful. It was just what they did. They didn’t question it.
    ‘Of course friend flowers
    You have expressed this to us before
    We are sure you will say it more
    But we love what we do
    We want to see you soar

    Do not question our love
    We do what we do
    Because it is what we do
    We love all just the same
    And despise few”
    The Daisies listen patiently and then in unison replied.
    “Your duty is know to us
    Our duty is to you

    If it is our beauty you love
    Then our beauty you shall have

    In our gratitude towards you both
    We sacrifice our beauty with this oath

    Brother Rain and Father Sunshine
    Those two whom we doth love most
    When together you breathe
    Our colors will fly
    From coast to brilliant coast”
    Suddenly the color bled away from the Daisies, leaving them a dull gray. The only color that remained was the green of their stems. The Daisies did know what they had given up, and they gave it up without a qualm. Their unimaginable beauty was nothing to them if they could please the Sun and the Rain.
    And please them it did. The Rain began to tear, the drops falling to the earth. The Sun was so happy that it shown the brightest it ever had. Suddenly and band of the most beautiful colors they had ever seen spread across the sky. At first everyone was confused, but then they understood. It was the Daisies’ color shinning bright for the Sun and Rain to enjoy.
    “This gift is the greatest of all, friend flowers
    Now let us thank you with our powers

    You need not lose all of your color
    For your center, closest to your hearts,
    Take this, a part of my light
    To shine for you always”
    Said the Sun.
    “It does sadden me to see you thus
    But your gift is most precious
    Still I cannot bear to see you this way
    Take my tears, and let them wash away that dull gray”
    Said the Rain. And wash away it did. The flowers were left with a beautiful golden center and clean white petals, the color as pure as a dove’s. And thus to this day, when the sun’s rays and the rain’s drops come together as one, the colors of the daisies spread across the sky, sharing their love for eternity.