The Boy Who Collected Rainbows
Written by Nia Lark
Published
In a small village surrounded by green hills, there lived a boy named Sami. He loved rainy days more than anything else. While other children ran indoors when the rain began, Sami would rush outside with his little glass jars. He had a strange hobby. He collected rainbows.
Of course, nobody believed him. His friends laughed whenever he explained how he caught tiny pieces of rainbow light inside his jars. Even his older sister thought he was making up stories.
But Sami knew what he had seen. One afternoon, after a heavy shower, a beautiful rainbow appeared above the village. Its colours stretched from one hill to another, shining brightly against the grey sky. Sami quickly grabbed his smallest jar and ran towards the old stone bridge. He had discovered that rainbows always looked brighter from there.
As he reached the bridge, a tiny golden butterfly landed on the jar. Its wings sparkled with all seven colours of the rainbow. Before Sami could move, the butterfly flew into the jar. A soft glow filled the glass, and a little rainbow appeared inside. Sami could hardly believe his eyes. He had finally collected one! That evening, he placed the jar beside his bed. Its gentle colours lit up the room like a tiny night lamp. Sami fell asleep feeling happier than ever.
The next morning, something unusual happened. The sky was completely grey. Not a single bird was singing, and the flowers in the garden had closed their petals. Even the village fountain had stopped flowing. Sami noticed that the rainbow inside his jar had become pale. He carried it outside. The colours were fading quickly, as if the little rainbow was losing its strength.
A strange silver mark appeared on the glass. It looked like a tiny mountain with a sun above it. Sami remembered an old story his grandmother used to tell. According to the story, rainbows were gifts from the Sky Garden, a magical place hidden beyond the highest hill. They appeared whenever the sky and earth were happy together.
Perhaps his little rainbow needed to return home. Sami packed some bread, a bottle of water, and his jar. He followed the silver mark towards the hills. The path was steep, and the wind grew colder as he climbed. After walking for nearly an hour, he reached a narrow passage between two enormous rocks. Beyond it stood a garden unlike anything he had ever seen.
The trees had silver leaves, the grass shimmered like glass, and hundreds of colourful flowers floated gently above the ground. But the garden looked tired. Many flowers had lost their colours, and the little streams had almost dried up. At the centre stood a tall tree with seven branches. Each branch held a different colour, but all of them were fading.
A tiny cloud floated beside the tree. It looked like a soft white pillow with two bright eyes. The cloud explained that the Sky Garden had been losing its colours because people had forgotten to notice the small beautiful things around them. They hurried through their days without appreciating the rain, the flowers, the sunlight, or the kindness of others. The rainbows were becoming weaker because the world was no longer paying attention.
Sami looked at his jar. The little rainbow was almost gone. He understood that keeping it for himself had not helped. The rainbow belonged to the sky, and it needed to return. Carefully, he opened the jar beneath the seven-branched tree. A stream of colourful light floated out and wrapped itself around the branches. Slowly, the tree began to shine. The flowers lifted their heads, the streams started flowing, and the garden filled with beautiful colours. The little cloud danced happily around Sami.
Before he left, the cloud gave him a small silver seed. It was no bigger than a grain of rice, but it glowed warmly in his palm. Sami returned to the village just as the sun was setting. The grey clouds had disappeared, and a beautiful rainbow stretched across the hills. He planted the silver seed in his garden. By morning, a tiny plant had grown in its place. Its leaves shimmered in seven different colours, and a small golden butterfly rested on its first flower. Sami never collected another rainbow in a jar.
Instead, he began showing his friends the beauty of ordinary things. They started noticing the colours of flowers after rain, the golden light of sunset, and the kindness hidden in everyday moments. And whenever a rainbow appeared above the village, Sami smiled. He knew that some beautiful things were not meant to be collected or kept. They were meant to be shared.