At The End of the Rainbow by Ellora Lawhorn
At the end of the rainbow there is a forest. A meadow. A rippling brook.
We have no reason to pick flowers because we will never be anywhere without them.
We weave crowns out of dried moss and adorn them with fallen leaves.
At the end of the rainbow we don’t claim we don’t see color, because we see more colors than ever before, and acknowledge that we could never pick a favorite.
At the end of the rainbow we are bathed in golden hour sunlight that is never blinding or scorching.
At the end of the rainbow we can still see the storm clouds, but it will never rain more than it needs to, and it will only be to water us. There is no need for the sky to rant and rage here.
At the end of the rainbow is a hole in a tree and if you reach your hand in, you will find infinite chocolate coins, and that will be all the currency we ever need.
At the end of the rainbow we will sing songs with no definable words while the refracted light braids our hair.
At the end of the rainbow we honor those who moved on to another afterlife, we line up their skulls in the soft grass and kiss them one by one. We do not miss them because they are only on the other side of the hill.
At the end of the rainbow there is a long table where we will eat brunch and underneath play footsie indiscriminately.
At the end of the rainbow you can dip your head under the reflection in the waterfall and turn your hair any and every color and they will all (be your color) look amazing on you.
At the end of the rainbow there is an endless game of frisbee, and you can jump as high in the air to catch as you want.
At the end of the rainbow there are hearts waiting for you, but if you get there and it’s not for you, feel free to move along.
I’ll see you at the end of the next rainbow.
“This piece, simply put, felt too hopeful. It was written as an alternate afterlife, and having lost people to both death and life, I felt like a fool for considering there was somewhere I could see them again. I think in our society we feel foolish for expressing a desire for unabashed joy.”
Ellora Lawhorn (she/her) is a queer writer from Northeast Ohio, USA. She has been writing poetry and stories since she could hold a pencil, and often writes about mystery and trauma. Her instagram is @ellrosewrites.