Short Stories - {for Contests}

At the End of the Rainbow

I looked at the cloudy sky. The dark, angry clouds were almost gone and the sun slowly started to come out of it's hiding place-behind them. The smell of damp earth filled my nostrils and the air felt cool and wet. I stood on my front lawn, my feet sunk into the drenched grass and marshy ground as I stared at the sky.

Now a rainbow was visible in the sky. The connected rings of different colours seemed to arch over the city. I glance at my friend, Maya. She stood in the doorway of my small house, instead of looking at the rainbow she was looking at me.

"What are you doing?" She asked. I turned my head back to the rainbow.

"Do you think there is a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow?" I turned to look at her. A questioning look on her face.

"Probably not," she replied. "You know stuff like that is not true."

"But what if it is?"

Maya sighed.

"We should try to find the end of this rainbow, maybe we would be lucky," I said. Her eyebrows shot up, looking at me like I was crazy. Before she could say anything I added, "We have nothing doing anyways."

"Are we really going to go all over the city, on an impossible adventure?"

"Yes." I beamed. "Plus, we can ride our bikes, it will be faster."

"Well, I can't talk you out of it." She shrugged then stepped out of the doorway, onto the front porch. She walked down the wooden steps and onto the lawn. Then, she headed inside the garage that connected to the side of my house. She came out with a dark blue and white bike. She had ridden it to my house earlier and then left it in there when it had started to rain. I then went into the garage to grab mine. It was empty and it was easy to spot my bike. I grabbed the black bike and walked with it out of my garage. As Maya saw me came out with it, she hopped on hers and waited for me to do the same.

"So, where are we going?" she asked. I looked up at the rainbow again. The end didn't seem that far. It stretched across the sky and my eyes travelled along the arc. The end appeared to be behind the grocery store that was not too far from here.

My hand lifted and I pointed to the store and then replied, "follow the rainbow."

We set off on our bikes down the sidewalk and headed in that direction. We passed many houses, most were small townhouses, while a few others were bigger. Most of them looked old but some more modern. We rode past a few corner shops and stores. As we got closer the rainbow had seemed to move. Now it was further back, meaning we had to ride longer. Before it appeared to be behind the grocery store but now it was farther.

"See, it's impossible," said Maya. We halted to a stop as we both looked up at the sky. The rain clouds were gone and replaced with fluffier, friendlier ones. "The rainbow, it's moving. Every time we get closer it moves away."

"Trust me, we are getting closer. It will just take longer than I expected." I protested. Maya rolled her eyes, sighed, and then continued riding.

An hour had passed as we rode through the city. We had to hurry before the rainbow disappeared. We pedalled faster. Soon, I stopped my bike and stared across the street. Maya stopped hers too.

"Do you see that?" I gasped. Maya turned to me, her face filled with confusion. I looked at the blinding light that seemed to be coming out of the ground. It was the end of the rainbow. I rode to the crosswalk. Watching as the cars pass, wondering if they could see what I was seeing.

"What is happening?" Maya asked. I pointed to where the light was coming from. "I don't see anything."

"The end of the rainbow is right there and there's a light coming from the ground," I explained. "I'm going over there. That's our pot of gold."

The light changed to stop and ahead of us, a little white man showed up on a screen, signalling us to walk. We rode across the street. On the other side, Maya stopped her bike.

"The rainbow doesn't end here," she said. Then she looked at the sky. "It ends all the way over there. We didn't get any closer."

"No, I can see the end right here. Don't you see the light?" I continued to ride towards the light as I heard Maya calling my name. As I reached closer to it, it got dimmer. Now, something came into view. I stopped my bike and stared at the gem on the ground.

"What is it?" I looked up to see Maya. She had followed me.

"I don't know," I said. I hopped off my bike and knelt down to where the green gem was. I carefully picked it up. The gem glittered in the sunlight. It started to get warm in my hands and then the blinding light shone from it. In front of me, a short woman appeared. A green top hat with a black belt sat on top of her black, curly hair. A four-leafed clover poked out of the belt and she wore an olive green jacket that topped a jade green buttoned shirt. I glanced at Maya. Her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

"You have found the end of a rainbow. I will unlock your power. Which is the ability to see the future," the small woman said.

"Are you a leprechaun? How can I see you?" Maya was the one to say anything first. "I thought we would find a pot of gold."

"Yes, I am. Not everything you hear is true." The woman tilted her head up, studying Maya. "I did not cloak myself from you. Only the outside world. Everyone else can't see me."

"I am confused about my power. What do you mean you are going to unlock it and where did I get it from?" I asked.

"You were born with it. You get it genetically, from one of your parents or grandparents. Somewhere down your bloodline, one of your ancestors was a leprechaun.

"You only unlock it when you have an encounter with a leprechaun. Finding the end of a rainbow is the easiest and most common way. I have to warn you, sometimes this power is dangerous and that's why it is sometimes hidden from the children that they have this power and it stays locked.

"Not every power is the same and it is usually random. I know what yours is because that is my power. I have the ability to sense the powers of others. That's why I got this job," she explained.

It was overwhelming. Now I know that one of my parents have a locked ability that they probably have no idea about. I wondered who had a power and what the power was. My ability, however, was to see the future.

The leprechaun lady smiled and then the rock started to glow again. This time I could feel the energy flow through my body. It was warm and pleasant. I closed my eyes as it flowed through me. Suddenly it stopped.

"It's unlocked." Then she started to fade.

"Wait, I have more questions!" I said but she was already gone.

"Wow, you can see the future?" Maya asked. "How does it work?"

"I don't know. Maybe if I concentrate really hard I'll see something." I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head. I only thought about my ability and nothing else.

I didn't see anything.

I felt like I had no idea what I was doing with these abilities. She said it could be dangerous but I saw my abilities as something that could help people, possibly save lives. This power seemed more of blessing but I feared that it would soon become a curse.

A/N
I made this for a crystal community contest but I accidentally made it too long so I'll enter another short story. I'll still keep this story up though.