Somewhere Under My Rainbow Essay, Research Paper
Somewhere under My Rainbow
When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. Your dreams
are big and your hopes are always high. When you are little, your biggest worry
is who will get the big swing at recess. As a child I had a very vivid imagination
and a best friend whose imagination was even livelier than mine.
I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second
grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our
parents were at work and had left my older sister, Kim, in charge of us. She was
sixteen years old with a haughty attitude. Most of the time she let us go our own
way, while she talked on the phone and groomed herself.
Today was no different than any other day that she had kept us. We left the
house around 3:00pm and hadn?t been back since. Sweat poured down our
foreheads as we sat on Stephanie?s front lawn. Stephanie was a plain girl with
long stringy blond hair, the shade of honey mustard and brown eyes whom
faded into the sun. Although her looks didn?t show it, she had a spark about her.
She had a spark that most kids, at the age of seven, didn?t have.
? So , what can we do? It?s hot but neither of us have a pool. There isn?t a kid
within three blocks of here, and I?m bored!? she exclaimed, with am agitated
look upon her face.
?I don?t know, but it sure is hot. Hey! Let?s go in your basement and see
what?s in there. I promise to go first!? I told her.
If there were anything in the world Stephanie feared more than hell, it was
her basement. She had feared it since she was tall enough to see down the dark
and empty staircase. She had never been down there, but the thought of it?s
contents drove her wild.
?Okay but only on my terms. First of all, you go first. And we are only going
for a minute. Oh, and one more thing, if I get scared, I?m coming back up.
Okay?? she told me.
I agreed to her terms and we headed into her house. Since her mother was
at work, we were all alone. As I opened the basement door, I could hear
Stephanie take in a deep breath. I looked over at the light switch and flipped it
up.
We both sat on the top step in awe. Before us lay the biggest room, full of
amazing things like guns, baby cradles, and old clothes. I ran down the staircase,
almost tripping over myself. That is when I spotted it.
The silver lining on the lid sparkled as the light hit it .I knew it was what I
was looking for. The color red shone on the top of the steel can. It was
paint. When I say paint, I don?t mean finger paint. It was the real thing. I looked
beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue
and green.
Stephanie, who was looking through some old clothes, looked over at me. ?I
never knew all this was down here. I was so stupid to be scared of it. You find
anything? All I?ve found is some old duty clothes,? she said.
I looked at her with one of my mischievous smiles and told her.? Thank me
later, Stephanie. I just found us a project for the day. Grab us some
paint brushes. We are fixing to paint.?
She squealed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and
immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find.
Stephanie got her old wagon out and we loaded up all the paint. The two of us
struggled as we carried it up the stairs.
I was a bit selfish at this age,
Since no one was there but my sister, we hauled all of our materials down the
road and into my yard.
When we got there, it didn?t take us long to realize that this would be a big
job. I grabbed a paintbrush and loosened the half-opened cans. The paint was
dried out for air and the can was half full. It was till enough to do the job.
There on the road in front of my house, we painted big stripes of colors
across the pavement. Sweat poured down our backs as the sun glared down
upon us. Stripe by stripe, our colors flourished into a beautiful rainbow. We
smiled as looked at our art. It was magnificent!
Stephanie jumped up in excitement and pulled me up. We laughed and
danced around our piece of art for hours, celebrating our newborn fame and
soon-to-come fortunes.
The sun was starting to fade and our excitement had been jaded by our
tiredness. We sat on the sidewalk in silence. I saw a car in the distance and
jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn?t wait to show
her my masterpiece. That is when the paint hit the fan.
The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother?s
face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble. I looked over at Stephanie and saw
that she, too, recognized that look.? Well?uh..I got to go now Kristyn, but..uh..
call me later.? Stephanie yelled as she ran towards her house.
My mother slammed the car door shut and walked towards me. Her eyes
glaring she yelled,? What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you
made forts out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors? trees, but this! Come inside
right now!?
I stood there glaring back at her for a minute, angry because she had
insulted my art. This had been my greatest achievement in my whole eight
years! Although I was mad, I quietly followed her into the house.
She headed straight for the kitchen and I continued to follow her. I know I
held my breath for at least two minutes without realizing it. She reached beneath
the sink and handed me some Comet and a scrub brush. ?Now go clean it up!
It looks like a bunch of heathens live here.? I slowly walked towards the door,
but before I did, I saw her reach for the phone. ?Hold on a minute, Kristyn.? she
said.
I listened to her tell Stephanie?s mother of our day?s work and could hear her
yelling through the phone. When my mother and I walked out the door to clean
up, there stood Stephanie and her mother. Her mother had an angry scowl on
her face. Stephanie also had a scrub brush.
I held Stephanie?s hand as we walked out into the road. All four of us,
Stephanie and I and our mothers, began scrubbing the road. Tears ran down my
cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement. There I was,
destroying my only artwork.
We stayed out there for hours that night, scrubbing away my rainbow. I?ll tell
you now, I never painted another road. Well, at least not near my house. Days
turned into moths and months into years. We moved away two years later and I
haven?t seen Stephanie since.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I
wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to
scrub it away. Then again, maybe my rainbow has never left me. I guess we all
need some sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep
our hopes and dreams colorful.
A true Story-Kristyn Penney