Celeste was a little cloud, and she loved colors! But she didn't like *sharing* them. She kept all the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet paints tucked safely inside herself. “These are *my* colors!” she’d puff, watching the world below in shades of gray.
Old Man Tiber, a wise, fluffy cloud, floated by. “Celeste,” he rumbled gently, “colors are much more beautiful when they’re shared. Imagine what you could create!” Celeste just huffed. She didn’t see the point. What good was sharing?
One day, a little girl named Lily was very sad. It had been raining for days, and she missed seeing bright colors. She sat by her window, wishing for a rainbow. Celeste heard Lily’s wish. She felt a tiny pang of something…was that sympathy?
Celeste peeked at her colors. They swirled and shimmered inside her. She thought about Lily’s sadness. Maybe…just maybe…Old Man Tiber was right. Taking a deep breath, Celeste squeezed out a tiny drop of red. It floated down, but it looked lonely.
Then she added a drop of orange. Still not quite right. Slowly, carefully, Celeste began to share all her colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet danced and twirled as they fell towards the earth. But they weren’t forming a rainbow! They were just scattered drops.
Suddenly, a friendly sunbeam zipped by. “Need a little help?” it twinkled. “I can bend the light through the raindrops and your colors! But you need to let them all go, and work *together*.”
Celeste hesitated for a moment, then let go of the very last drop of violet. The sunbeam did its magic, bending the light through the raindrops and Celeste’s colors. And there it was! A magnificent rainbow arched across the sky.
Lily gasped with delight. She ran outside, laughing and pointing at the beautiful arc of color. Celeste felt a warmth spread through her, a feeling much brighter than any color she’d ever held onto. It felt good to *help* others!
Old Man Tiber floated by again, smiling. “See, Celeste? Sharing your gifts makes the world a more beautiful place.” Celeste smiled back. She learned that day that colors – and happiness – are always better when they’re shared. From then on, Celeste loved painting rainbows for everyone, and she always remembered the joy of *friendship* and *creativity*.
As the rainbow faded, Celeste drifted off to sleep, dreaming of all the colorful adventures she would have tomorrow. And Lily, snuggled in her bed, knew that even on rainy days, there was always hope for a rainbow.