The rain drenched the sidewalks before the sun went down. The news played softly in the background. I had my glasses gripped to the palm of my hand, waiting for the time. I stepped each foot out the door slowly, putting the glasses on, and waiting. The moon hovered over the lightly lit sun. I took my glasses off watching the houses become blank in the moonlight. I slowly started to see a slight color blast, a curved and bent “U”. It was so subtle but so out of sight I hallucinated well watching it. Before I knew it the sun rose again, the houses grew color, and the moon left alone the lightly lit sun. I couldn’t see the rainbow anymore for some reason. It ticked me off for a couple of days, waiting, waiting, and waiting for the rainbow to come back. Nothing happened. I didn’t see a rainbow for the next 5 months. It rained, it poured, and sun came back, but the rainbow never did. I saw it on my way to work, early, too early to be honest, and I smiled. The only time I remembered a rainbow from my past.

The day seemed normal enough. As usual, you live a life of predictability in the small town of Hadlow. I could recite my day as if it was a song lyric. Wake up, go to work, get home, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. In a place where everybody knows everybody, there was no escaping the town’s gossipers, or your nosy neighbors who seemed to mind everything but their own business (looking at you, Chad and Tara).

I was fresh out of high school, with no idea what the hell I wanted to do with my life. I’m assuming this is how most of us feel, but we just pretend to have our shit together. My day consists of standing at a register, greeting customers and taking orders at the town’s well-known burger joint, Toasty Buns. Yeah, I know, the name sounds ridiculous, but that’s above my pay grade.

I didn’t mind my job. In fact, it was often a place where my friends would stop by to hang out. I work a late shift, and my workday typically ends at 11pm. This day was no different. Actually, I lied. It was very, very different.

While I was making my way home, I took a longer path through my cul de sac, which was quiet and still. I never liked my late-night walks home, and I always felt like I was looking over my shoulder. The only lighting around were street lamps, and I began to pick up the pace as I got closer to my house, scrolling through my phone.

As something caught my eye, I briefly glanced up at the night sky. That’s when I saw it. Streaking along the sky, with vibrant hues of red, orange, blue, green, and yellow, was a rainbow. At night. A rainbow at night.

For a moment I entertained the thought that someone may have snuck an edible or two into my sandwich during my lunch break. However, as I blinked not once, not twice, but three times, the rainbow continued to illuminate across the sky, expanding further than my near-sighted ass could see. From where I was standing, the rainbow branched off into segments, creating smaller, fainter streams of color.

I fumbled with my phone and eagerly snapped a picture, rushing to get home immediately. I was so excited to tell my friends and family that I had just seen the weirdest shit. I wanted to pull them outside so they could also witness what was happening.

The last thing I imagined was that this sight would be an omen, and the worst day of my life. The next morning, the sun did not come up.

Like paint on a canvas. Stars in the night sky. You can see it as clear as day yet you could just tell it belonged. Throughout the hazy night it grew brighter and brighter as the moon rose. The flowers untucked their petals to bask in the light and deer were peeking up at the sight. Everything was peaceful. Everything stopped. The world didn’t know how much it needed the rest. The beauty and the peace all in one mix. Not one or the other. Both. Simultaneously. Together. Like a team. No one wanted the sight to go, but everything comes to an end. The most the world could do was enjoy the view. Savor the feelings of blue rushing away. Feel the warmth of the colors like a hug. Who knew you could ever feel that way. It’s like something you always needed, yet didn’t know. Something always there, but only you could show.

Dusk is just minutes away. The sunlight is slowly drifting away. I’m sitting on my grandma’s favorite wicker chair that she used to rock in until she fell asleep. I remember sitting on her lap as a kid while shepherd would rock. I start rocking the chair as that nostalgic memory brings a smile to my face.

Night time is my favorite. I get to look up into space and remind myself of how small I am. It helps with my anxiety. When my feelings feel big, I need outer space to bring me back to realizing I’m so small. But I think my favorite part about night time is the rainbow that comes once a year. September 11th is always the day it comes.

Leaning back into my grandma’s wicker rocking chair, I take an intense and long deep breath. Just as I’m letting out that last little breath, I see that glimmer of color. And then all at once, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet mark their spot in the dark night.

Ashen night consumes the day and silence stretches for miles

it’s an otherworldly experience really

you drive the only sound the wheels hitting the cement over and over and over

and over

and

over

you’re dozing off

But in your dream

you’re somewhere else somewhere else completely

And colors light up the sky

Rain glistens

everything feels right

Safe

But when you wake- which you hope you never do -you’ll realize that paradise has a price

and sometimes it might be your life

your cars not on the road anymore it’s somewhere in a ditch

but that’s ok just close your eyes go back

To paradise

To paradise

If rainbows appeared at night surrounded by the twinkling stars and illuminous moon, the colours would stand out like fireworks, cascading down to earth. the streaks of colour giving hope to those who are stuck in the dark, a bit of hope for each day when people need it the most.

The rainbow would lead us to places we have never been, friends meeting up to drive right to the end to see what they could see, late night drive throughs busy as people grab a snack, getting to the best location to stare up at the sky, talking about dreams and ambitions or what the future would hold.

If the rainbow came out at night, it would be less lonely. If the rainbow came out at night I would never get up in the morning.

Rainbows only show in the dark

We walk on clouds in the shapes of hell

the earth falls down on us in soft pitter patters

we wake in the light of warm nights

we sleep like dead in the frozen day

Honest politicians feed us bitter truths

we peacefully chant our names and lies

they tell, gently tell us we’re right

the rich are all poor

the poor are all kings

boys grow to be young women

girls grow to be young men

the young men bear their cells

the young women bear provision

the same sane madmen are the doctors

the doctors are downright crazed

my devil boy talks my ear off

and I say nothing

but I frown

—— my how I frown

Oh God I frown

The sky is dark outside, in the middle of the night. I should be sleeping right now, but I can’t. It’s easier to stay awake when my mind is racing.

I enjoy the peacefulness of the middle of the night. The quiet and the darkness. It is then when I can finally think.

I sit up in my bed and throw the covers off. I need fresh air. It will help me relax and think.

I walk over to the other end of my room. From there I bend down and unlatch one lock. Then I stand on my tip-toes to reach the other lock.

I am free. A fresh, cool wind reaches my face giving me the feeling of being awake. It is like a whole new point of view.

I walk over to the railing of my balcony and look out down below. The pretty little houses all quaint and quiet. As if no one else is awake in the whole city but me.

Over the tops of the houses is the never-ending sea. Stretching far and wide with the gloomy clouds in the distance.

The air is fresh from the passing of rain but the sky is clear enough to see the twinkling stars up above.

Far in the horizon I see a glow. Faint at first but it slowly grows.

First just a small glow of purple, but then from the purple comes blue, and so on.

On and on until the red reaches the night sky.

The resulting view is magical.

Twinkling stars up above, and the pretty, misty clouds fading in the distance. But the glow of the vibrant colours masks all else.

Magic.

The sky is a whole new world. The seas below reflecting both the colours and the twinkles from the sky like a swirling potion mixing to create something magical.

The magic is what takes my breath away. My head is finally cleared. I let out a deep breath.

If something this beautiful can exist, then that means that all my problems can go away.

There is no place for my problems in a world so magical as this.

In this enchanting nocturnal world, the sky transforms into a celestial canvas as hues ripple through the firmament, painting a vivid masterpiece as evening descends. The air hums with a gentle rhapsody of color, a symphony of luminescent dreams. A silvery moon hangs high, illuminating the dark backdrop with its soft, ethereal glow, casting long, dreamy shadows that dance with the swaying trees.

As night deepens, a singular, delicate phenomenon begins to unfold. The first hints of the rainbow emerge, subtle and shy, swathed in velvety indigo and navy. Soon, like brushstrokes wielded by an invisible artist, arcs of radiant color unfurl gracefully across the midnight expanse, each shade gently blending into the next with a brilliance only seen under the starstuff-spackled sky.

Rich reds bleed into vibrant oranges, casting an amber glow on the sleepy earth below. Glorious yellows and lush greens whisper of mysterious meadows hidden in the night. Deep blues and indigos swirl alongside striking violets that seem to hold an otherworldly secret. Each color pulsates with a life of its own, shimmering as if woven from the very essence of twilight's dreams.

Stars twinkle playfully around this nocturnal rainbow, gleefully pirouetting along its opalescent band, their cold light offering a crisp contrast to the rainbow’s warm blush. The Milky Way provides its stellar backdrop, its starry rivers flowing endlessly across the horizons, enriching the heavenly vista with its treasure trove of distant, flickering lights.

Below, the world gazes up in hushed reverence at the celestial phenomenon. The land, shrouded in night, turns its eyes towards the luminous tapestry that drapes the sky. Shadows of trees and hills stretch wider as colors wash over them, painting the world in an otherworldly glow. Even the waters of rivers and lakes become enchanted, reflecting the vibrant arc in shimmering, liquid ribbons of color that ripple and dance on their surfaces.

Night creatures emerge, their eyes wide in amazement at the kaleidoscopic skies. An owl, perched solemnly upon a bough, tilts its head, curious and bewitched by this mesmerizing occurrence. Somewhere in a meadow, a fox pauses, its glistening coat catching the rainbow's kiss, awash in a rain of celestial light.

The air feels different during these nocturnal showers of colors – more alive, crackling with a gentle, sparkling charge that seems to vibrate with the heartbeat of the earth. It is as if, for a few suspended moments, the barriers between worlds thin, inviting enchantment to seep into the veins of the planet.

In this realm, where rainbows grace the night, awe and magic blend seamlessly with reality, leaving behind an eternal impression of beauty that lingers long after dawn spills its golden light over the horizon, whispering promises of another magical night to come.

"Well, It's been a long day, Ace. " Silas said, turning his head as he slowly puffed on his cigar. "A long August summer at that. We should set back to my house." Ace furrowed his brows, this whole season, he had limits to everything. His games, his shows, his sleep, his power, even though it was the time of year to do just that. He bottled up his feelings in a pot, trying to keep the lid on, to look on the bright side, thinking Silas might've treated him a few extra hours if he obliged, but it was the 31st, it was the last day, it was over. He spewed his annoyances on a silver plate. "Really? Because I don't think making me sleep everyday at 8PM made the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 vacation I get in a 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, long. It's summer for god's sake! For three months I couldn't tune in to 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 because of you! For three months I couldn't play with matter, for three months I followed all your rules for you. It's the 31st of August now, and even just for today, you still want me to sleep. It isn't fair!" He argued, flopping onto the dirt path.

Silas looked below him, seeing tear ducts forming in the young boy's eyes, hurt and youthful. He clucked his tongue as he took a breath, looking into Ace's. "If only you'd asked why I would've shown you." "What?"

"Look up, my dear boy."

With a glance, a beautiful rainbow slowly cascaded over Ace's eyes. It shimmered in the glow of the moonlight, as its colors danced through the earth and above the moutains, under the hill,and over the bridge, a playful swirl that tickled Ace and Silas, and a sharp, dashing plummet that formed its honeycomb-shaped barrier. In every direction sparkles blurred his iris, every hue displaying itself with boldness and pride. What a sight for sore eyes that have never seen the wonders of dusk, a sight for those that have never seen more than mundane.

"Welcome to Ravenbow, son." "Where the sloths sleep into dreams and the ravens creep into colorful gleams."