Alex's Rainbow

Alex’s rainbow
People would say babies are more attached to their mothers than their fathers maybe because almost everything they need is mostly provided by their mothers but for Alex it was different. Ever since he was born, Alex was closer to his father than his mother, maybe it was because he looked a lot like him or maybe because he was a boy so it wouldn’t be surprising for him to be closer to his father. Whatever the reason may be, there was no doubt Alex and his father had a special bond. At times, when Alex would cry only his father could calm him down and when he would refuse to eat only, he would manage to feed him. The more Alex was growing the more he and his father’s relationship also grew.
Years passed and, Alex was now ten years old and he had become more like his father. They spent a lot of time together; they played a game of football every day even if they were tired after having a long day from work and school. The two were inseparable and they were more like brothers than father and son.
“Alex is looking so determined and focused, his team’s win depends on this goal,” Alex’s father said pretending to be a commentator whilst standing in the fake goal post as a keeper, “Will he make this penalty? Well, we are about to see as Alex is ready for his shot.”
Alex moved back away from the ball as he focused his eyes on his father who was in the way of his victory. He took a deep breath, ran towards the ball and shot.
“Goallllllllllll,” Alex shouted in victory as he ran across the yard with his shirt lifted over his head. His father stood there, laughing as he watched him.
“Don’t get too excited. Tomorrow, I won’t let you win again,” his father joked.
“Ha, I won fair and square just like the other times,” Alex disagreed, “just admit it, I’m a better player than you dad.”
“Oh really,” his father laughed.
“Yes, and soon I’m going to be better than Messi, the best football player in the world,” Alex said confidently.
“You mean Christian Ronaldo,” his father said.
“Nah ah, Messi better is than Ronaldo,” Alex argued.
“No, everyone knows Christian is best,” his father disagreed again. Alex shook his head and the two continued to argue over who was the better player. Alex’s mother later came out of the house to call them for dinner. She lightly laughed and shook her head as she watched them argue. Their football matches always ended in arguments and she would be the one to end them.
“Okay, what are we are arguing about today?” she asked with her arms folded.
“Dad is saying Ronaldo is better than Messi, but the truth is Messi better,” Alex said.
“Your mother knows I’m right,” his father said.
“Well, I think Alex is right,” she laughed.
“You see, mum even knows,” Alex shouted as he gave her a high five.
“You’re always taking his side,” his father pretended to be upset.
“Because she knows I’m always right,” Alex laughed with his mother. Even though he was closer to his father, Alex did love his mother as much as he loved his father. He did spend time with her not much like his father but they had special moments while his father would be resting in his room and after dinner, Alex would stay to help his mother clean the kitchen and they would talk about his day at school. His mother was very caring of Alex and loved him so much.
Even though he didn’t come from a wealthy home or didn’t have many friends. Alex was happy, he had a beautiful home with wonderful parents. His life was like a beautiful sunny day with a clear blue sky but sadly not all days are sunny.
A few months later, Alex’s father lost his job, and just after that Alex’s mother suddenly became ill and she urgently needed special treatment. The situation at home became hard, his father no longer had money to pay for the treatment let alone other expenses since he was now jobless. Fortunately, through a close friend, his father was offered a good contract by the government’s army. The contract offered enough money to cater for Alex’s mother's treatment and it was also enough to cater for other expenses including Alex’s school fees on top of that, they would be given a house to live in for free. Sadly, for Alex, he wasn’t going to see his father for a long time since he was going away to work in the army and not only that he and his mother had to move away. Life for ten-year-old Alex now became sad and painful, his sun left and a cloud of sadness surrounded his life and rained every day on it.
As time passed, Alex completely shut himself from the world, not being able to see his father affected him terribly.  His mother tried to encourage him to make new friends but he didn’t even want to make any instead he would stay locked up in his room, alone. After she got better, Alex’s mother offered to play football with him but he refused. He continued to stay under his dark rainy cloud but then something special happened.
Alex’s mother had asked him to get some vegetables from the garden in the backyard and as he was picking the vegetables, he found a small bird on the ground, it had broken its wing. The bird’s feathers had different colours like a rainbow, it was very beautiful. Alex hurriedly took the bird inside the house and with his mother’s help, the bird’s broken wing soon healed.
“Hey, feeling better,” Alex talked to the bird and it looked and chirped.
“Great, hungry?” Alex asked again and the bird chirped loudly.
“You pretty loud, you know that,” Alex smiled and placed snacks on his table and watched as the bird ate.
“Your feathers have so many colours like a rainbow, they are beautiful,” Alex admired the bird and smiled.
And he later named the bird, Rainbow and bought a nice cage for it. The more time Alex spent with his new little friend, the more he grew attached to it and it didn’t take time for the two to become the best of friends. They played together in the backyard as soon as Alex would get home from school.  Rainbow would fly around the house as Alex would try to catch him and sometimes Alex would climb the tree and stay up there with Rainbow for an hour. Alex’s mother was very happy to see her son smile once again. The bird had brought happiness to Alex’s life and the rain was slowly disappearing.

Two weeks later, Alex was sitting near his window talking to Rainbow about his day at school as usual, then suddenly his friend flew out the window. Alex called after Rainbow but the bird did not return so he ran out of the house and followed it. He found his little friend flying around a boy who was on the ground with bruises on his knees and with his bicycle next to him. Alex ran to help him, the boy was Alex’s neighbour, Jacob, and he had seen him around when he moved here. Alex took Jacob to his home to help him get cleaned up while Rainbow followed. As Alex’s mother was cleaning Jacob’s wounds, Alex and he began to have a little chat. Jacob’s father also had left to work in the army and they both loved to play football. To no surprise, Jacob and Alex became very good friends and every day after school, they played football sometimes with Alex’s mother if she wasn’t busy while his little friend watched. Besides Rainbow Alex had now Jacob as a friend and he didn’t feel lonely anymore, his life was getting better even if his sun hadn’t returned yet. The sky was getting clearer.
It was just a normal afternoon, Alex and Jacob had just finished playing their game of football and were now laying on their backs. They looked up to the sky, naming shapes the clouds formed.
“That looks like a rabbit,” Jacob pointed out.
“Yes, it does and that looks like a bird,” Alex also pointed out.
“Speaking of a bird, where’s Rainbow?” Jacob asked him about their little friend. Rainbow hadn’t been himself recently, he seemed to be sad about something and stayed in his cage.
“In his cage, I think he isn’t feeling well,” Alex answered,” he was like this yesterday.”
“You should take him to the vet,” Jacob advised.
“My mother is taking him tomorrow, but I don’t think it’s serious,” Alex tried not to worry too much. He was sure his friend was all right.
A month passed, Rainbow wasn’t still the same and even became worse. The bird no longer flew around the house or chirped loudly and when Alex’s mother had taken him to the vet a month ago, she was told that there was nothing wrong with Rainbow. So why was his little friend like this? Alex was worried and a little sad, so he asked his mother to take Rainbow to the vet again and she did so.
“Mum, what did they say? He is sick,” Alex anxiously asked as his mother sat down with Rainbow on her lap.
“Well, Alex there is nothing to worry about, Rainbow is not sick but he is just homesick,” she told him, “I think he wants to his home now.”
Alex was sad to hear this, he didn’t want to let go of his little friend. Alex was hurt but he knew it was the right thing to do for his friend. He had his mother and Jacob and just like his father, his little friend might have a family waiting for him on a nest in a big tree. The next day, Alex said goodbye to his friend, he kissed the little bird’s head and released it. Weirdly, it seemed to have understood and flew around Alex, chirping loudly. Alex laughed and the bird finally flew out the window.
“Thank you,” Alex said with a smile on his face and watched his rainbow disappear into the sky but little did he know his sun would be returning soon.
The sun, the rain, the rainbow and again the sun