Rainbow

(First Honorable Mention (fourth place) in “Published manuscript category in the Reader’s Digest Magazine contest, 1995 It was still early in the afternoon, and it already had been a long, rainy day. It had been raining for most of three days, which was unusual for this area. For my two sons, ages 3 and 6, all entertainment options had been worn out by the end of the first day. The novelty of saving drowning worms, stick and string puddle fishing, and rowing plastic tub boats had lost appeal. The “Rainy Day Olympics” had worn out even faster, due to the inevitable altercations that occurred after each son proclaimed himself the winner of every event. We hadn’t fared any better with indoor activities until we decided to bake cut-out cookies. As we were taking the last batch of dogs and stars out of the oven, things were looking up. Was that…