Rainbow,The

The Rainbow

The rainbow lit up the black clouds it arched over like light through a
glass crystal. I went through the rainbow song in my head but only some
of the colours of the song were in the rainbow I was looking at. Still,
I'd given up believing anything I was told as a child, a long time ago.
Santa doesn't exist, the Easter bunny doesn't exist, and not even the
tooth fairy exists! Whatever that plaque fighting mouth wash advert
says! It seems to me that these days there is very little that you can
trust. The people you can trust you can count on one hand and any
objects are fine, but they only last as long as their guarantee. Mans
best friend the dog was becoming the most reliable option. Amongst
these thoughts I came to an important decision. I've been waiting all
of my life for someone to tell me how I should lead my life. To tell me
why I am here on this slowly dying planet. Unfortunately it doesn't
work out like that; you have to figure it out for yourself.

"Steven!"
"Up here"
"What are you doing in the loft?"
"I'm sorting through all of the crap I have and deciding what I want to
keep and what has to go"
"Oh right, well I'm going to get tea ready"
"Okay I'll clean myself up and be downstairs in a minute"
"How's your day been?
"Fine, I'm quite tired actually. How about you?"
"The worst in my whole life! I'll tell you about it when you come
downstairs"
"Okay"

So I turned away from the skylight and dusted myself off. I needed to
get away from the memories all of these objects brought back. As I
descended the wooden staircase I thought about what it would be like to
start a new life. I also wondered what bad news Miranda had for
me.

"My boss sacked me today!"
"That was nice of him can I ask why?"
"I slapped him round the face"
"Aha! I suppose he didn't find that very appropriate"
"Steven! What am I going to do?"
"Don't you think the question should be, what are we going to
do?"
"You know what I mean. We'll never be able to meet our monthly bills
with just your job"
"Do you know what?"
"What?"
"I've been doing a lot of thinking today and I think we should
move"

I knew Miranda would have a problem with this straight away. She never
was impulsive. When we moved in together I decided that this would help
me to settle down, but I think it just made me more restless.

"You want us to just up and leave?"
"Yep. Well think about it Miranda we haven't got that much keeping us
here and now you've lost your job we could turn a bad thing into a good
thing"
"A good thing, you think me losing my job is a good thing! For God's
sake Steven, be realistic"
"That's it though Miranda, I am being realistic. We set a date, book
the tickets, and in the meantime we can settle our debts, and whatever
else needs doing."
"Hang on, what do you mean book tickets?"
"I want us to move to Australia. There's a conservation out there
working on keeping species alive that most people have never heard
of"
"Since when have you been into animals and saving the world?"
"We don't need to go over the small details, just say you'll come with
me"
"You're going to go whether I come or not aren't you?"

This was going to be harder than I thought. God I think I felt more
dislike for Miranda then, than I ever have done before. I was asking
her to take a big risk I know, but it wasn't like she'd be leaving
hundreds of friends behind. Her parents had passed away a few years ago
and although her sister was still around, they would see each other
just as often even though Miranda would be in a different
country.

"Yes I'm going to go whether you come or not"
"If I hadn't have lost my job today would you still be going?"
"I would have asked you to quit your job"
"I need to think about it, eat your tea"

I ate my tea but I didn't forget about what I'd said. The next day I
carried out those tasks and it felt very invigorating. I booked the
tickets and told Miranda how much time she had got to decide.

"You're setting me a deadline?"
"If I don't then you would never make the decision"
"I can't believe you're going to do it. You're willing to throw five
years away over a phase you're going through"
"Don't patronise me Miranda. This isn't a phase I'm going through, this
is something I've always wanted to do, it just took me a while to
figure it out"
"You're leaving a fortnight today right?"
"Yeah, that's right. I'm catching the 7.20am plane to Melbourne"
"Well I'll let you know as soon as I can!"

When we fought Miranda always used that sarcastic tone because she
knew how much I hated it. We barely spoke during those two weeks. Our
few friends noticed but they stayed well out of it. Miranda remained in
two minds about it but I just grew more sure every day. When the eve of
the final day arrived I packed my things. Miranda also started to pack
her things.

"This doesn't mean I'm coming Steven, I'm just preparing for every
eventuality"
"Miranda there are only two eventualities, you come with me or you stay
here. If I get to Melbourne without you then we're over. You can't pop
over a couple of weeks later"
"Oh thanks for your compassion and understanding!"
"Look Miranda, you know I want you with me, but I'm not going to get
down on my knees and beg"
"Well that's fine because I've learnt very quickly in these past couple
of weeks to expect nothing from you"

I was tempted to spend our last night together on the sofa downstairs
but I wasn't willing to give up what could be my last bit of comfort
for a while. I wanted to remind Miranda of what we used to have, but
she turned her back and pretended she was asleep.

We boarded the plane at 7.00am that day and for once there were no
delays on out flight. I couldn't wipe the great big smile off my face.
I was like a child getting ready to go to Disneyland or
somewhere.

"Do you want anything out of the bag before I put it in the overhead
locker?"
"No thanks, I'm fine. They'll probably bring us some breakfast not long
after we set off. Although I think I might be too excited to
eat!"
"Me too. I'm glad you persuaded me to come"
"I was quite surprised when you said yes, but I think I knew all along
that you wouldn't let me down"
"Never!"
"I wonder what Miranda is doing right now"
"Probably searching for a new job!"

Miranda decided that she couldn't do it as I knew she would. I would
have had the shock of my life if she had decided to come. Shelly and I
were ready for our new life, and we didn't want anything to ruin it. It
was one we had been waiting for, for a very long time.