05/28/2026
The Rainbow and the Iris - a short story.
The rainbow was lonely.
She was beautiful, but brief — appearing after rain, glowing across the sky, then disappearing almost as quickly as she came. The old stories say she carried messages between heaven and earth, whispers from souls who had passed on, reminders that love never fully leaves us.
People loved her, but they could never hold onto her.
So the rainbow asked the earth to create something that could stay behind. Something rooted. Something that carried her colors long after she was gone.
The earth gathered drops of every shade — violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, red — and tucked them into the soil. And in spring, the first iris bloomed.
The rainbow looked down and saw her colors growing back from the earth in soft petals and endless variations. She was no longer lonely.
That’s why irises bloom in so many shades. Each one carries a different piece of the rainbow — a small reminder that love, beauty, and the people we miss still find ways to reach us after the storm.
Marion Lynott
