Rainbow Guests

The town had one odd rule: only happy people were allowed through its gate. So every visitor painted on a smile before arriving. One afternoon, a troupe appeared on brightly coloured animals, carrying battered suitcases and a rainbow that looked as if it had travelled too far.

The guard asked, ‘What have you brought us?’ The smallest guest answered, ‘Honestly? We came to rest.’ Nobody in town knew what to do with such an answer. Then a child opened the gate.

That night rain washed the colour from every face, but no one was asked to leave. By morning, the town had learned a new kind of welcome: the sort that begins when the performance ends.