Beyond the Rainbow

Ronnie rubbed the sleep from her eyes. After lunch, she, Beth, and Tilly had enjoyed a rousing game of monkey-in-the-middle with Tilly taking the role of the monkey. Of course, each time he caught the ball that the girls had tossed, the game turned into a romp around the yard until he released it. When Beth collapsed to the ground, signaling an end to the game, Ronnie took her cue and made a beeline for her hammock. She had intended to close her eyes for a few minutes and catch her breath before heading back indoors, but had surrendered to the drowsiness of the hot summer afternoon and the swaying of the hammock in the gentle breeze.

Pieces of birthday dreams still clung to her. Over lunch, Gramma had told stories of the birthday celebrations she had observed in other lands. Ronnie was especially intrigued by the Hungarian custom of recognizing one’s name with a special day instead of celebrating the day of one’s birth. She wondered which day might be reserved for her name. With a resolve to explore the matter further on some other day, she shook off her dream and headed to the house. Her entrance must have been uncharacteristically quiet because the adult conversation within continued, unguarded.

“…whole summer lying around in that hammock waiting for rainbows. Sometimes I think she expects some cockamamie rainbow magic to bring her dad back to her. She complains about every little thing I ask her to do. I just don’t know what to do with her lately.”

“Sarah, she’s just being a kid. Graham was the same way at her age and I’d bet you were too.

“Erasmus said: ‘The highest form of bliss is living with a certain degree of folly’. I think Ronnie knows, deep down that all this talk of rainbow magic is folly, but it helps her to get through the rough times. It’s something she shared with Graham and a part of him she will probably never wholly let go. To be honest, I hope she doesn’t. I hope she passes his stories on to the next generation and the next. That’s how she’ll keep him alive in her heart. You know…”

The slam of the screen door, as Ronnie kicked it, achieved the desired result: the conversation came to an abrupt halt. She took a deep breath and bounded into the room, intending to announce that the time had come to get the birthday show on the road, but saw it was already there. The table was festively set and dinner was close to oven ready. The telltale aroma of a cake lingered in the air.

“Hey there, Birthday Girl!” her mother exclaimed, in a voice that seemed momentarily hesitant. She then added, cheerfully, “How about making a pitcher of your soon-to-be-famous lemonade? You can take it out on the deck and when we finish up here, we’ll join you. Gramma has many photos to show us and we have plenty of time before dinner. I bet there are some great shots and there may even be one or two of a magic rainbow.”

Ronnie knew, then, that her mother was willing to take what Gramma had said to heart. She crossed the room and threw herself into her mother’s arms, giving her the biggest bear-hug possible for one so small. Her mother, unaware that Ronnie had heard any of the conversation between herself and Iris, was at a loss to figure out the reason for the display of affection, but enjoyed the moment.

A short time later, they were gathered around the table on the deck ready to view the photos of the world. Since her trip had started in Ireland, Gramma showed those pictures first. There was one of lush, green rolling hills with a double rainbow in the background. Gramma told them that a local legend claims that a double rainbow is a sign of hard rain to come. That had proven true on this trip. The poor weather had followed Gramma throughout Great Britain and chased her to the Scandinavian countries. There she had photographed landscapes filled with mountains and lakes and fjords. In Norway, she had wandered into a shop that sold an assortment of products displaying ancient Runes. She surprised each of them with a bracelet, depicting an ancient Norse Rune that she had chosen especially for the recipient. Beth’s was Berkana for love and healing. It would serve to remind her of her dream to become a veterinarian. Sarah’s was Jara, a symbol for harvest, to aid her in her business venture. Ronnie, of course, was presented with Tyr, which represents the Rainbow. Gramma had chosen Raed for herself. It symbolized travel.

While all were surprised and pleased, Beth was especially elated. Not only was the bracelet her first real piece of jewelry, but it was an un-birthday gift. To her, it demonstrated that Gramma had thought of her even when not required to do so.

After touring Scandinavia, Gramma had winged her way to the European continent. The photos of Spain, France, and Italy were all interesting and many were, in fact, breathtaking. The family was most notably impressed by the pictures of Gramma in the seat of honour at Hecate’s Iris Festival. Ronnie remarked that Gramma looked like the Goddess herself.

There were many more photos of many more places. There were even places Ronnie had never heard of – not even in Geography class. Gramma had saved the Australian, and possibly the best ones, for last.

“Hey, look at this one!” Beth exclaimed as she spied a photo of a coloured rock wall. “It looks kinda dark there. Did you take it at nighttime? Is it nighttime in Australia when it’s daytime here? How far is it to Australia? Did you…?

“Beth, honey, slow down,” her mother interrupted. “Let’s save some of those questions for dinner conversation and just concentrate on the photos for now. Iris, tell us about this one. Is it a cave?” Gramma explained that she had taken the picture in the daytime, but it was deep within the Jenolan Caves. The walls of the caves were formed with layer upon layer of colourful rock. She had been surprised to learn, as were they, that the pool inside the cave was named for Cerberus and the river flowing into it was known as ‘Styx’. It seemed to Ronnie that legends had followed Gramma all around the world…or had she followed them?

She was pondering this when Gramma produced the final photo with a flourish. A lush, green mountainside was the setting for a waterfall that cascaded over 700 feet into a glistening pool. Above the towering peak, no less than three rainbows shimmered. Beth wondered if the legends there said that a triple rainbow meant they were going to get lots and lots of rain. While Gramma explained that the legends and beliefs are different in different parts of the world, Ronnie stared into the photo.

“You know,” she said, when the conversation provided a gap for her, “I’ll bet there’s a cave in behind that waterfall. Maybe it’s the home of the Rainbow Dragon! It looks like just the kind of place that Wollomombi would want to live, doesn’t it?” Ronnie’s dreams of rainbow magic took flight.

“You could be right, Ronnie. It certainly was a place with an air of magic about it. It’s the largest waterfall in Australia and may be one of the largest in the world. I’d have to look that up. Anybody want to guess what the waterfall is called?”

“I know! I know!” cried Beth. “I bet its Rainbow Waterfall.”

“That’s a good guess, but I’m afraid it’s wrong. Sarah, you look like you have an idea.” She suggested Iris Falls, which Gramma thought to be a perfect name for almost any place, but again not the right name for the falls in question. Ronnie was drawn away from her day dreams and back into the conversation when Gramma asked her what she thought the falls should be named.

“Well, since it looks like a perfect Rainbow Dragon home, I think it should be named for one. My guess is Wollomombi Falls.” When Ronnie learned she was right, she was prepared to ramble on about waterfalls and dragons and rainbows, but the insistent BZZ-BZZ-BZZ of the oven timer stopped her.

They all got down to the business of gathering the lemonade glasses and the photos and headed in for dinner. Ronnie stood out on the deck for a minute looking at the bracelet on her arm and wondering what her special birthday gift could be and how it could top the beautiful Scandinavian Rune. Since she had no other choice but to wait, she shrugged off the question and went inside to enjoy her birthday feast.