Oliver’s Rainbow

Linda leaned over the stove, whisps of hair plastered to her face by sweat. She scooped up a piece of potato and blew on it before popping it into her mouth, then smiled, satisfied with her brew.

“Mommy!” Oliver ran in through the back door, covered in mud with matching green grass stains on his knees. He bounced from one leg to the other, doing a funny little jig that Linda recognized immediately.

“Bathroom!”

“But-”

“You can tell me when you’re done. Go before you have an accident!”

Ollie frowned but obeyed. Linda listened for the sound of the flushing toilet and the faucet, only returning to her soup when she had heard both.

When he returned to the kitchen, Ollie said, “Mommy, there’s a rainbow outside!”

“Show me!”

Oliver led her to the back porch. In the dark blue sky stood a brilliant rainbow. Linda patted her son’s head and laughed as she pulled a bit of clover from his hair.

“You know,” she said. “Legend has it, rainbows are good luck.”

“They are?” Ollie said, eyes wide.

Linda sat on the porch staring at the sky with her arms wrapped around her little blessing until the last of the rainbow’s colors faded.