A Rainbow of Colors

Wes was picking Jewel up after school. She was gathering her lesson plans and the children's work for the day when every thing slipped out of her arms onto the floor.

Wes had just come to the open classroom door. She hadn't seen him yet. She was wearing a short skirt and there was no way to do this gracefully. He watched her move, squatting down to pick the papers up. He bent down to help. He was thinking about how her long legs wrapped around him perfectly. He loved to watch her walk in high heels toward him.

"Hey, babe, you are sensational, but I don't want anyone else to know that," he laughed.
"You have a dirty mind, sir, and are very possessive," she laughed.

Jewel knew she was blessed with a man who loved her.

This was a special birthday, the big twenty-one. She had asked for a ride in the sky and a multicolored hot air balloon was the ticket to fly.

When she found out that her dream was coming true, she had her first graders draw pictures of a hot air balloon. She had found a picture, from a magazine that she enlarged, so they could see people in it floating across the sky.

One little girl, Amber, that has a congenital heart defect, drew angels in the sky over her balloon. Each picture told a story. Children were her passion; little sponges that soak up the universe and teach us how to look at life.

She and Wes and the man at the controls, took a fantasy flight that special day over the city of Vale.

The two named the clouds, like they had as children in separate cities when they lay in newly mowed grass with its' sweet smell.
The sky was a spectacular robin blue from God's paint set. The wind, a gentle giant, blew them with his softest breath.

"Wes, oh honey, do you see that lovely pink colored cloud? It is a sugar coated one like you get at a carnival? Yummy, I can taste it now. It sticks to your lips and melts in your mouth leaving sugar there. Can't you taste it?"

"What I can taste is you, like warm honey drizzling.."She kissed him right then.

He whispered in her ear, "We need a magician cloud so I can wave a wand and make this guy disappear and we can make love in a hot air balloon"

"This is wonderful. Babe, do you see that cloud over there, to your right, doesn't it look like this balloon?" He was pointing.

"Kind of" She nodded, going along with him.

"Do you know what is going on in that cloud balloon? There is a man that loves this woman so much; he cannot live another day without knowing if she feels the same way?"

Wes went down on one knee and opened the Tiffany box.
He was watching her stunning green eyes sparkle with delight.

There was a perfect Emerald in an antique platinum setting that she had picked out herself on their second date. They had walked by and she had said it was the most elegant and exquisite ring but beyond the budget of anyone she knew. He bought it the next day.

He was her prince with the right words, a promise of life long paradise, but her answer was never heard.

The end came so fast, there was no time for pain or tears.

It was a violent explosion that lit up the sky. The remains of the balloon were a rainbow of flaming colors.


By Kathie Stehr