One Little Woman and a Chair

Rainbow Sunshine Bailor was as unusual as her name. She was a small woman in size but big in personality. Rainbow was a small woman barely 5 feet tall. Rainbow was named after her great Aunt Bow and since her mom liked the rain she put the two things together and there got her name Rainbow.  Her middle name was her father’s idea since he called her Sunshine before she was even born. He would look at her mom’s growing belly and say, “How’s my little bundle of sunshine.”  

Rainbow often wondered if her parents had a secret desire to be free spirits back in their day. She thought that they did given the fact that they named her Rainbow. She loved her name. Rainbow had the biggest blue eyes that matched her light brown hair and she thought she looked sort of exotic back in the day. Her bright smile and big heart  made her a treasure to everyone who knew her.  

Over the years Rainbow’s life hadn’t been easy. She married her high school sweetheart at the age of 18 and by the age of 25 she had four kids. She loved her kids fiercely and would do anything and had done everything she could for them. She survived the death of her husband after 30 years of marriage. A drunk driver took him from her. He was going to get her some ice cream, strawberry ice cream. She told him that he didn’t have to go but he insisted. He called her his queen and anything he could do for his queen he did including going out at 9pm to satisfy her craving for strawberry ice cream. He never came home that night. He died instantly in the car crash. She never had the chance to say goodbye. She never got the chance to tell him that she loved him one last time. For over a year she cursed herself for wanting that dam strawberry ice cream. If only she would think, if only. Five years had passed in the blink of an eye and here she sat in her chair, her big red chair that gobbled her up when she sat in it. The cushions had seen better days and were worn out and the covering she had over the chair was a quilt she had made for one of her children when they were little. Now they were all grown up with children of their own and moved away.  

Rainbow often sat in that chair and remembered the good times, the bad times and all the times in between. She loved her family and her friends. She especially loved her best friend, January. January had been in her first grade class at Elmwood School. They were the girls with the  uncommon names. Sometimes kids made fun of their names but Rainbow and January paid them no attention. They had themselves and knew that they would always be best friends. January lost her husband last year and since then she and Rainbow had basically moved in together, as their kids would say, because either Rainbow was at her house or she was at Rainbow’s house.  January would sit  across from Rainbow’s big red chair and they would talk and eat and eat and talk and laugh and laugh. 

Today was the day. Rainbow had waited for this day for a long time. She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. She felt a mix of emotions. She never thought she would feel this way but she did. Most people probably would be happy. She was a little happy she also was a little sad. It felt strange. It even rained today and it was the middle of June. She couldn’t remember the last time they had a June shower. Maybe it was a good sign. Rainbow took it as a good sign. After all, there is always a rainbow at the end of the storm and maybe this was hers. She sat in the chair and waited. It was cold in her house and Rainbow got up slowly and turned on her heater. She hated turning it on. Henry, her husband always had the heater on even in the middle of summer. He was always cold and she would always tell him that he was nuts and needed some iron in his blood. She thought of Henry as she turned on the heat and took a seat back in her chair and grabbed a blanket. She pulled the blanket up to her nose and smelled it. She breathed in Henry’s scent. Henry loved to wear Old Spice and  the blanket they shared still smelled of his old spice cologne.  

Rainbow looked at the clock, one of the last remaining things she still had in the living room which Henry bought for her. She thought he was nuts giving her a clock on their 4th wedding anniversary. She had kids and she always knew what time it was. But, to Henry that clock had special meaning. Rainbow and Henry had their first kiss under a clock in their homeroom classroom when they were in high school. She was only a Freshman and he was a Senior. After that first kiss came many, many more kisses. The clock chimed as a new hour began.

“It won’t be long now.” Rainbow said to her cat, Romeo. 

Romeo purred and then jumped off of Rainbow’s lap like he knew what was coming too. 

Someone knocked on the door. Rainbow knew who it was. She slowly walked to the door and opened it wide. Standing there was a man dressed in a suit and blue tie with a bunch of papers in his hand. Rainbow moved aside for him to enter her house.

“Are you ready Miss Rainbow?” The man asked.

“Ready as I'll ever be. I guess.” Rainbow answered. 

The man placed the papers on the table in front of her and the countdown began. Each of them shouted at the same time.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two one…” 

That was the longest ten seconds of her life and the shortest ten seconds of her life. Rainbow reached for a pen and signed the papers. She signed them exactly ten seconds after the time that she had Henry had signed the papers when they brought the house years ago. Now, it wasn’t hers anymore. The man picked up the red chair, the blanket and walked towards the front door. Rainbow grabbed the clock and Romeo and off she went. Ten seconds is all it took for her to start her new adventure into the second half of her life.