Race to the Rainbow
by Barbara Sugar
by Barbara Sugar
Check out our other exclusive book, "Rescuing Lily: The Fairy In Grandma's Toy Box".
Three little fairy sisters were sitting by the window watching the rain come down.
Although it was a fine home, carved out of a big sturdy oak tree by their grandfather
and their father, with a big beautiful kitchen, the girls felt trapped inside, bored to
tears with the endless days of rain. Yesterday, Allura, the oldest, had tried flying out
into the soft misty rain, but her wings were soon soaked and she had a hard time
flying back home. She had tried walking, but her shoes found only mud puddles.
Delaney, the middle sister, let out a long sigh. She was so bored that her bones
seemed to
ache with it.
A short while back, their mother, Jewels, had suggested that they braid each other's
hair.
Delaney and the littlest sister Charlotte had a wonderful time braiding Allura's
long, soft black hair. Allura had wanted green and silver beads woven into her hair.
Jewels had been pleased with their work. Delaney's long golden brown hair was easy
for Allura to fix up in a fancy style with feathers and pink beads.
When Allura and Delaney tried to comb Charlotte's, it was so hard since her fine
blond hair snarled easily. It had taken them a long time, patiently allowing Charlotte
to stop the process for a few minutes to chase a ladybug around the room right in the
middle of their work. They did love to watch her enjoy herself, though, so they didn't
mind the interruption. Once she was settled back in, they were finally able to wrap
Charlotte's hair into long braids with blue and silver bells attached.
However, the hair braiding had been finished for hours and now the girls were bored
again.
"Oh, Mother! When is the rain going to stop?" they cried to Jewels.
"Darlings, you know that the forest needs this rain," Jewels explained. "Come and
help
me make acorn cookies for Gran."
Quickly, the little fairy girls fluttered down from the window. They enjoyed helping
make
cookies and they knew that soon Gran would be coming for a visit. It was pleasant
work that they did take seriously since baking is a little difficult for fairies who live
inside a tree. Luckily, their father and grandfather were excellent craftsmen who had
carefully laid the sun baked bricks for the oven in a broken tree limb many years ago
when they first built the house, so as to reduce the risk of setting the whole tree on
fire when they cooked. However, even little fairies know that the fire still must be
watched very carefully so as not to send their whole home up in flames. Their spirits
were lifted as they worked, talking and giggling with their Mom.
In no time at all, the smell of acorn cookies filled the entire house. Piling the warm,
crisp cookies onto a serving platter, Jewels began to set the table for tea. She took
four cups from the cupboard and brewed a pot of piping hot mint tea. Allura got out
the honey jar and four little spoons. Delaney picked out four stone plates to hold
their sweet treats.
As they all gathered around the little wooden table to enjoy the feast, Allura asked
her mother, "Mom, how did you learn to bake cookies?"
"Well," Jewels answered, "Gran is a great cook and taught me how one long winter.
It took a few times, but I finally got it right. When you get a little older, I will teach
each of you how to bake them on your own. This is a family recipe and we want to
keep it going!"
The delicious tea and cookies, and thoughts of the day when they would be old
enough to make the acorn cookies on their own kept them content enough until
bedtime, but even as the little fairy girls lay tucked into their soft, moss covered beds
under carefully woven quilts of beautiful fall leaves, they could still hear the sound of
the rain falling on the oak leaves outside their window. As they fell asleep, they
dreamed that tomorrow the sun would finally come out and dry the forest enough for
a little flight over the flowers and pond.
The morning came slowly, with cold gray skies. Still, the rain came down. It was
gentle and soft, but even in a light rain, it is impossible for fairies to fly without great
difficulty and peril.
As the girls stared out the window once again, Delaney asked her mother, "Mom, is it
today that Gran is coming?"
"Sorry, my love, not today," Mother replied, "Even Gran can't fly in all this rain."
After many hours of drawing pictures and reading stories, the sisters sat talking
quietly on the living room rug. Delaney loved curling her toes into the soft, warm,
squirrel fur that mother had gathered from the branches of the oak tree to weave this
rug. Her reverie was interrupted as Allura blurted something out.
"Hey! Do you hear what I hear?" she cried excitedly.
"I don't hear anything," Delaney replied, listening closely.
"Exactly!" exclaimed Allura. "The rain has stopped!"
The cold gray light shrouding the living room had been replaced by warm, sunny
rays. The girls ran to the window and looked out onto the sparkling forest. The
leaves looked shiny in the sunlight. Soon the could fly outside.
Running to their mother, they shouted in a single voice, "Mom! Can we go out now?"
"Of course you can, my darlings," Jewels answered, nearly as pleased as the girls
were to be able to let them out.
Being the oldest, Allura felt it her duty to remind her younger sisters to wear their
sweaters. They happily obliged and then all three ran to the front door and quickly
took flight. It felt wonderful to really stretch their wings again. Everything looked so
lovely. The blue sky was dotted with a few billowing white clouds. The green grass
looked fresh and crisp, decorated with the springy white and yellow daisies.
"Look at all the butterflies!" cried Charlotte, as the little fairies flew over the pond,
dodging dragonflies and butterflies as they went.
While Delaney flew over to smell some pretty pink flowers, Allura discovered
something amazing.
"Oh my gosh!" cried Allura. "Look at the beautiful, giant rainbow!"
"It is so pretty!" exclaimed Delaney, as both she and Charlotte turned to see it.
"I am going to fly to the end of the rainbow," declared Allura.
"I am going to get there first!" laughed Delaney as she swiftly took flight.
"Don't leave me behind!" cried Charlotte, hurrying to catch up with the older fairies.
Off they flew, over the pond, past a squirrel family eating nuts, and past a stand of
ferns. The rainbow seemed to be moving away from them as they flew towards it. It
was the biggest and brightest one that they had ever seen. They just had to touch it.
Since Charlotte was the youngest, her wings began to tire first. Soon her sisters left
her far behind. She called to them to slow down, but in their hurry to reach the
rainbow, they didn't hear her.
"Oh dear, I am so far from home," cried Charlotte, sitting down on a big mushroom
that had grown in all the rain. "I hope that they come back soon."
The two older sisters kept flying and laughing as the rainbow seemed to finally be
getting closer. By now, they had flown into a deep green forest. Golden sparkles
seemed to be coming from the end of the rainbow, near a giant oak tree. From the
branches hung long strands of gray-green moss.
As they got closer, Delaney flew faster. She desperately wanted to be the first to
touch the rainbow. Just then, Allura flew past her so quickly that she was little more
than a blur of wings.
"Wow, that's fast!" Delaney shouted, flying harder to catch up with Allura.
Just as the girls turned to look at one another, the rainbow disappeared.
"What happened?" they shouted, swinging wide to keep from crashing into the giant
oak.
Down below them, they saw an amazing sight; a big pile of shining gold coins! They
darted down to touch the gold. Reaching out to pick up one of the coins, the girls
were surprised to find the coins were very cold. They both tried to lift one together,
but it was very heavy and they couldn't budge it even a little. As they both struggled
with their task, out from behind the big oak tree stepped a laughing leprechaun.
"Oh now, don't be stealing my gold!" he chastised them.
"We just wanted to hold it," said Delaney.
"Fairies don't usually come to this part of the forest," mused the leprechaun with a
wink. "How did you find my gold, anyway?"
"We were racing to touch the rainbow," said Allura.
"We looked away for just a second and it disappeared," added Delaney.
"Well, that's the way it is with rainbows. You can't touch them, you know. They are
just a light spirit," explained the grinning leprechaun. "But, you did find my gold fair
and square. So, I will give you some gold dust to help you make your fairy magic."
To Allura, he handed a small purple bag with tiny golden flowers embroidered down
the sides. To Delaney, he handed a bag that looked just the same, only pink
instead. Both bags were filled with gold dust.
"Wow! Thank you so much!" they squealed with glee.
As they admired their new treasures, the girls noticed that the sky had begun to
change from bright blue, to pink and gold.
"Oh no!" cried Allura. "It is getting late!"
"Oh Allura, we left Charlotte alone in the forest somewhere," worried Delaney, her
laughter completely gone.
Back where they had left her, Charlotte had fallen asleep on top of the big
mushroom. She awoke to the sound of crickets, and looked up at the pink sky.
"Oh my, it is getting late and I am lost!" Charlotte cried. "I wish my sisters were here.
Or Mom. Or Da. Oh what will Mom say with us not coming home?"
Over the pond near their home, Jewels herself flew about, calling to her daughters.
"Where could they be?" she asked herself fretfully when too much time had passed
without hearing an answer from her girls. "They just flew out to play."
Not wasting another minute, Jewels hurried back to her home in the big oak tree and
got her whistle to call her neighbors. Upon hearing the alarm, they came right over.
Luckily, one of the fairies that lived nearest her was an elder known as The Wise
One, and he was able to call up a magic spell that quickly located Charlotte asleep
on the mushroom far from home. But even with the spell, there was still no sign of
Delaney or Allura. All of the neighbors worried that the little fairies must be too far
away for it to reach them.
As the light began to fade ever faster as night approached, the fairies called on the
help of some fireflies to light the way home. Jewels worried and worried as her
neighbors kindly tried to comfort her while they all flew deep into the forest on their
way to retrieve Charlotte.
From her place on the mushroom, Charlotte looked in the direction of home and was
amazed to see the twilight sky filled with sparkling lights. It wasn't long before she
could hear her Mother's calls.
"Here I am!" she shouted.
Jewels was soon there, wrapping the little fairy in her arms.
"Oh my sweet baby, how did you get out here all alone?" she asked.
"Oh Mother, we were racing to the rainbow. Allura and Delaney left me behind.
They were in such a hurry to be first!" Charlotte explained.
"Ah, the call of the rainbow," the Wise One said. "It has pulled many a young fairy
away from home."
Meanwhile, Allura and Delaney prepared to make their way back home, waving
good-bye to the leprechaun and taking flight. Far in the distance, they saw some
tiny lights.
"We really are a long way from home Allura," Delaney worried. "I'm so tired, I'm not
sure I can make it that far."
"Don't worry, I will stay with you. You can't give up. We have to find Charlotte. We
just can't leave her alone at night!" Allura reassured her little sister, speeding up just
a little as she began to imagine how frightened little Charlotte would be all alone.
"I know," admitted Delaney, "but can't we fly a little slower? This gold dust is getting
so heavy."
"Here, hand me your pouch. I will help carry it awhile so you can keep going," Allura
told her.
"Thank you sissy," Delaney said, gratefully handing over her pouch as they flew.
Little by little, the tiny lights became brighter and the girls could faintly make out the
sound of voices talking in the distance. To their relief, they heard their mother's
voice and that of the Wise One.
"Mom!" they cried together.
As they approached the others, Delaney and Allura flew into their mother's arms.
"So, did you catch the rainbow?" asked the Wise One with a knowing smile after they
had a moment to catch their breath.
"No," complained Delaney. "We looked away for one little moment and it
disappeared!"
"But, we found some gold, and the leprechaun that owned it gave us some of his
gold dust as a prize!" Allura bubbled excitedly.
"Wonderful!" the Wise One congratulated them. "Some day I will teach you how to
use it in your magic."
"Thank you!" the sisters cried.
"Now then, about leaving your little sister behind and alone!' said Jewels, her tone
becoming a touch irritated.
The older girls looked sadly at Charlotte.
"I'm really sorry that we didn't wait for you," apologized Allura.
"We'll never do it again. I love you!" added Delaney.
Easily to forgive, Charlotte gave each of the older girls a big hug.
"That's very generous of you to accept their apologies," Mom smiled. "Now then,
let's head back home. It's nearly time for bed! I'll carry your gold dust, girls, so it
won't be too difficult for you to keep up with the elders."
When they got back home, they all thanked their neighbors for the help and said
goodnight. Mom prepared a quick dinner and tea, and all three girls were so tired
that they went directly to bed right after.
In the morning, it was raining again. The sisters looked out the window, but today
they were not bored. They were too busy talking about the wonderful rainbow and
their unforgettable adventure.
The End
Three little fairy sisters were sitting by the window watching the rain come down.
Although it was a fine home, carved out of a big sturdy oak tree by their grandfather
and their father, with a big beautiful kitchen, the girls felt trapped inside, bored to
tears with the endless days of rain. Yesterday, Allura, the oldest, had tried flying out
into the soft misty rain, but her wings were soon soaked and she had a hard time
flying back home. She had tried walking, but her shoes found only mud puddles.
Delaney, the middle sister, let out a long sigh. She was so bored that her bones
seemed to
ache with it.
A short while back, their mother, Jewels, had suggested that they braid each other's
hair.
Delaney and the littlest sister Charlotte had a wonderful time braiding Allura's
long, soft black hair. Allura had wanted green and silver beads woven into her hair.
Jewels had been pleased with their work. Delaney's long golden brown hair was easy
for Allura to fix up in a fancy style with feathers and pink beads.
When Allura and Delaney tried to comb Charlotte's, it was so hard since her fine
blond hair snarled easily. It had taken them a long time, patiently allowing Charlotte
to stop the process for a few minutes to chase a ladybug around the room right in the
middle of their work. They did love to watch her enjoy herself, though, so they didn't
mind the interruption. Once she was settled back in, they were finally able to wrap
Charlotte's hair into long braids with blue and silver bells attached.
However, the hair braiding had been finished for hours and now the girls were bored
again.
"Oh, Mother! When is the rain going to stop?" they cried to Jewels.
"Darlings, you know that the forest needs this rain," Jewels explained. "Come and
help
me make acorn cookies for Gran."
Quickly, the little fairy girls fluttered down from the window. They enjoyed helping
make
cookies and they knew that soon Gran would be coming for a visit. It was pleasant
work that they did take seriously since baking is a little difficult for fairies who live
inside a tree. Luckily, their father and grandfather were excellent craftsmen who had
carefully laid the sun baked bricks for the oven in a broken tree limb many years ago
when they first built the house, so as to reduce the risk of setting the whole tree on
fire when they cooked. However, even little fairies know that the fire still must be
watched very carefully so as not to send their whole home up in flames. Their spirits
were lifted as they worked, talking and giggling with their Mom.
In no time at all, the smell of acorn cookies filled the entire house. Piling the warm,
crisp cookies onto a serving platter, Jewels began to set the table for tea. She took
four cups from the cupboard and brewed a pot of piping hot mint tea. Allura got out
the honey jar and four little spoons. Delaney picked out four stone plates to hold
their sweet treats.
As they all gathered around the little wooden table to enjoy the feast, Allura asked
her mother, "Mom, how did you learn to bake cookies?"
"Well," Jewels answered, "Gran is a great cook and taught me how one long winter.
It took a few times, but I finally got it right. When you get a little older, I will teach
each of you how to bake them on your own. This is a family recipe and we want to
keep it going!"
The delicious tea and cookies, and thoughts of the day when they would be old
enough to make the acorn cookies on their own kept them content enough until
bedtime, but even as the little fairy girls lay tucked into their soft, moss covered beds
under carefully woven quilts of beautiful fall leaves, they could still hear the sound of
the rain falling on the oak leaves outside their window. As they fell asleep, they
dreamed that tomorrow the sun would finally come out and dry the forest enough for
a little flight over the flowers and pond.
The morning came slowly, with cold gray skies. Still, the rain came down. It was
gentle and soft, but even in a light rain, it is impossible for fairies to fly without great
difficulty and peril.
As the girls stared out the window once again, Delaney asked her mother, "Mom, is it
today that Gran is coming?"
"Sorry, my love, not today," Mother replied, "Even Gran can't fly in all this rain."
After many hours of drawing pictures and reading stories, the sisters sat talking
quietly on the living room rug. Delaney loved curling her toes into the soft, warm,
squirrel fur that mother had gathered from the branches of the oak tree to weave this
rug. Her reverie was interrupted as Allura blurted something out.
"Hey! Do you hear what I hear?" she cried excitedly.
"I don't hear anything," Delaney replied, listening closely.
"Exactly!" exclaimed Allura. "The rain has stopped!"
The cold gray light shrouding the living room had been replaced by warm, sunny
rays. The girls ran to the window and looked out onto the sparkling forest. The
leaves looked shiny in the sunlight. Soon the could fly outside.
Running to their mother, they shouted in a single voice, "Mom! Can we go out now?"
"Of course you can, my darlings," Jewels answered, nearly as pleased as the girls
were to be able to let them out.
Being the oldest, Allura felt it her duty to remind her younger sisters to wear their
sweaters. They happily obliged and then all three ran to the front door and quickly
took flight. It felt wonderful to really stretch their wings again. Everything looked so
lovely. The blue sky was dotted with a few billowing white clouds. The green grass
looked fresh and crisp, decorated with the springy white and yellow daisies.
"Look at all the butterflies!" cried Charlotte, as the little fairies flew over the pond,
dodging dragonflies and butterflies as they went.
While Delaney flew over to smell some pretty pink flowers, Allura discovered
something amazing.
"Oh my gosh!" cried Allura. "Look at the beautiful, giant rainbow!"
"It is so pretty!" exclaimed Delaney, as both she and Charlotte turned to see it.
"I am going to fly to the end of the rainbow," declared Allura.
"I am going to get there first!" laughed Delaney as she swiftly took flight.
"Don't leave me behind!" cried Charlotte, hurrying to catch up with the older fairies.
Off they flew, over the pond, past a squirrel family eating nuts, and past a stand of
ferns. The rainbow seemed to be moving away from them as they flew towards it. It
was the biggest and brightest one that they had ever seen. They just had to touch it.
Since Charlotte was the youngest, her wings began to tire first. Soon her sisters left
her far behind. She called to them to slow down, but in their hurry to reach the
rainbow, they didn't hear her.
"Oh dear, I am so far from home," cried Charlotte, sitting down on a big mushroom
that had grown in all the rain. "I hope that they come back soon."
The two older sisters kept flying and laughing as the rainbow seemed to finally be
getting closer. By now, they had flown into a deep green forest. Golden sparkles
seemed to be coming from the end of the rainbow, near a giant oak tree. From the
branches hung long strands of gray-green moss.
As they got closer, Delaney flew faster. She desperately wanted to be the first to
touch the rainbow. Just then, Allura flew past her so quickly that she was little more
than a blur of wings.
"Wow, that's fast!" Delaney shouted, flying harder to catch up with Allura.
Just as the girls turned to look at one another, the rainbow disappeared.
"What happened?" they shouted, swinging wide to keep from crashing into the giant
oak.
Down below them, they saw an amazing sight; a big pile of shining gold coins! They
darted down to touch the gold. Reaching out to pick up one of the coins, the girls
were surprised to find the coins were very cold. They both tried to lift one together,
but it was very heavy and they couldn't budge it even a little. As they both struggled
with their task, out from behind the big oak tree stepped a laughing leprechaun.
"Oh now, don't be stealing my gold!" he chastised them.
"We just wanted to hold it," said Delaney.
"Fairies don't usually come to this part of the forest," mused the leprechaun with a
wink. "How did you find my gold, anyway?"
"We were racing to touch the rainbow," said Allura.
"We looked away for just a second and it disappeared," added Delaney.
"Well, that's the way it is with rainbows. You can't touch them, you know. They are
just a light spirit," explained the grinning leprechaun. "But, you did find my gold fair
and square. So, I will give you some gold dust to help you make your fairy magic."
To Allura, he handed a small purple bag with tiny golden flowers embroidered down
the sides. To Delaney, he handed a bag that looked just the same, only pink
instead. Both bags were filled with gold dust.
"Wow! Thank you so much!" they squealed with glee.
As they admired their new treasures, the girls noticed that the sky had begun to
change from bright blue, to pink and gold.
"Oh no!" cried Allura. "It is getting late!"
"Oh Allura, we left Charlotte alone in the forest somewhere," worried Delaney, her
laughter completely gone.
Back where they had left her, Charlotte had fallen asleep on top of the big
mushroom. She awoke to the sound of crickets, and looked up at the pink sky.
"Oh my, it is getting late and I am lost!" Charlotte cried. "I wish my sisters were here.
Or Mom. Or Da. Oh what will Mom say with us not coming home?"
Over the pond near their home, Jewels herself flew about, calling to her daughters.
"Where could they be?" she asked herself fretfully when too much time had passed
without hearing an answer from her girls. "They just flew out to play."
Not wasting another minute, Jewels hurried back to her home in the big oak tree and
got her whistle to call her neighbors. Upon hearing the alarm, they came right over.
Luckily, one of the fairies that lived nearest her was an elder known as The Wise
One, and he was able to call up a magic spell that quickly located Charlotte asleep
on the mushroom far from home. But even with the spell, there was still no sign of
Delaney or Allura. All of the neighbors worried that the little fairies must be too far
away for it to reach them.
As the light began to fade ever faster as night approached, the fairies called on the
help of some fireflies to light the way home. Jewels worried and worried as her
neighbors kindly tried to comfort her while they all flew deep into the forest on their
way to retrieve Charlotte.
From her place on the mushroom, Charlotte looked in the direction of home and was
amazed to see the twilight sky filled with sparkling lights. It wasn't long before she
could hear her Mother's calls.
"Here I am!" she shouted.
Jewels was soon there, wrapping the little fairy in her arms.
"Oh my sweet baby, how did you get out here all alone?" she asked.
"Oh Mother, we were racing to the rainbow. Allura and Delaney left me behind.
They were in such a hurry to be first!" Charlotte explained.
"Ah, the call of the rainbow," the Wise One said. "It has pulled many a young fairy
away from home."
Meanwhile, Allura and Delaney prepared to make their way back home, waving
good-bye to the leprechaun and taking flight. Far in the distance, they saw some
tiny lights.
"We really are a long way from home Allura," Delaney worried. "I'm so tired, I'm not
sure I can make it that far."
"Don't worry, I will stay with you. You can't give up. We have to find Charlotte. We
just can't leave her alone at night!" Allura reassured her little sister, speeding up just
a little as she began to imagine how frightened little Charlotte would be all alone.
"I know," admitted Delaney, "but can't we fly a little slower? This gold dust is getting
so heavy."
"Here, hand me your pouch. I will help carry it awhile so you can keep going," Allura
told her.
"Thank you sissy," Delaney said, gratefully handing over her pouch as they flew.
Little by little, the tiny lights became brighter and the girls could faintly make out the
sound of voices talking in the distance. To their relief, they heard their mother's
voice and that of the Wise One.
"Mom!" they cried together.
As they approached the others, Delaney and Allura flew into their mother's arms.
"So, did you catch the rainbow?" asked the Wise One with a knowing smile after they
had a moment to catch their breath.
"No," complained Delaney. "We looked away for one little moment and it
disappeared!"
"But, we found some gold, and the leprechaun that owned it gave us some of his
gold dust as a prize!" Allura bubbled excitedly.
"Wonderful!" the Wise One congratulated them. "Some day I will teach you how to
use it in your magic."
"Thank you!" the sisters cried.
"Now then, about leaving your little sister behind and alone!' said Jewels, her tone
becoming a touch irritated.
The older girls looked sadly at Charlotte.
"I'm really sorry that we didn't wait for you," apologized Allura.
"We'll never do it again. I love you!" added Delaney.
Easily to forgive, Charlotte gave each of the older girls a big hug.
"That's very generous of you to accept their apologies," Mom smiled. "Now then,
let's head back home. It's nearly time for bed! I'll carry your gold dust, girls, so it
won't be too difficult for you to keep up with the elders."
When they got back home, they all thanked their neighbors for the help and said
goodnight. Mom prepared a quick dinner and tea, and all three girls were so tired
that they went directly to bed right after.
In the morning, it was raining again. The sisters looked out the window, but today
they were not bored. They were too busy talking about the wonderful rainbow and
their unforgettable adventure.
The End
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| You may also like "Rescuing Lily: The Fairy in Grandma's Toy Box." |