There’s a bird, the only one of it’s kind in the world. He stands just over 4 feet tall, but his overall length with the tale is just over 6 feet. He’s mostly forest green in color but the wings and tail feathers contain reds, blues, yellows, oranges and purples of varying shades. His legs are long like a stork and his neck is like a giraffe. The eyes are almond colored and shaped with the small black pupil in the center. His beak is short and curved, mostly yellow with a hint of orange towards the tip.

The bird eats mostly colorful fruits like blueberries, raspberries, sweet pineapples, plums, and mandarins to maintain the vivid colors that have become the envy of all, including humans. Knowing that envy can be a dangerous motivator, the bird stayed away from the humans most of all.

Always alone the bird is hyper aware of his surroundings. Any small movement outside of the normal makes him jump on one foot like a pogo-stick to immediately take off into the air. He would vary his patterns of flight, of rest, and of dining to keep predators away.

He mainly flies over land and trees but sometimes like to venture out over the ocean so he can feel the cool ocean spray under his wings and belly. The spray tickles his nose, making him blink rapidly and even makes him giggle as he swoops and dives. In his journeys he happened upon a waterfall. The steep cliffs spilling that water among jagged grey rocks and lush sturdy trees.

Then he saw her.

The rainbow was only there during the day time, basking in the sun and water and hanging among the wind. He recognized her in himself, she had all the brilliant colors that he had. He flew within her, still being tickled by the spray of the water. He flew around her to bask in the glory of her brilliance. He wanted to stay with her always.

If it weren’t for the night he may not have eaten. She would leave at night and that’s when the bird decided to go find the delicious fruits so he could maintain his brilliant colors, not only for himself but now for her.

He eagerly awaited for the sun to report for duty so he could be with her. The nights were just for survival activities; eating, sleeping, and building his nest so he could see her as soon as she arrived. When the rains would come he would stay in his nest, stalking the cliffs for movements of light where she might appear. Even the little glimpses of her gave him peace.

But the greed of humans is strong. Instead of letting beauty exist they want to possess. Instead of letting beauty share itself with the world they want to keep it for themselves, sheltering it from most and only sharing it with a select few.

Because the bird was more predictable in his patters he was easier to track. One day the humans came upon him at the cliffs. The bird was so focused on the rainbow he didn’t hear the footsteps, feel the presence of greed and so was caught up in a heavy roped net.

The humans caged him and brought him to a white and gold mansion. His cage was in the warmth of the sun, they fed him the fruits he needed to maintain his colors but the bird yearned for his love, the rainbow.

The humans had parties to try to show off their prisoner, but as time passed the bird’s sorrow became greater and greater. With each passing day the prized plumage began to change colors. The blues and purples became shades of grey, the reds became black, the yellows and oranges turned brown. His almond eyes became heavy with the agony of depression. The humans became angry at the bird for losing the colors that were once so beautiful to possess. They put the bird in a small room to never be seen and soon the bird died of a broken heart.

As the spirit lifted from the bird’s body storms raged over the mansion, over the lands, over the ocean. The earth felt the sorrow and unrequited love. The Great Love that only few truly know escorted the bird’s spirit to the cliffs to be reunited with the rainbow. When the sun broke over the mountains and the rainbow made her appearance, the Great Love delivered the bird spirit to her. Once again, the bird flew within her and around her. At night they would sleep, but during the day when the sun was present they were together, they were each other forever.

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