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Under Madison’s bed lay a box of
rainbows. She pulled the box out and opened it. Inside was a rainbow of
colored paints and a paintbrush. There were bright red, yellow, green,
blue, purple, white, brown and black paints.
Madison carried her box over to her
easel. It had a pad of paper clipped to it. She filled up her water cup,
dipped the paintbrush into it, and wondered what she should paint. She
decided to paint a tree. She dipped the brush into the green paint and
drew some leaves, and then carefully washed the brush off. She dabbed it
into the brown paint next and painted a tree trunk. She didn’t think it
was colorful enough so she added some red apples. Some hung from the
branches and others lay on the ground around the bottom of the tree. When
she was finished, she stood back and took a look. Her painting was
beautiful. "I’m thankful we have apple trees," she smiled.
Madison left the painting to dry and
went outside for a walk. She strolled past her next door neighbor’s rose
garden, stopping to look at them. There were yellow, red, white, and even
orange roses. "I’m thankful for flowers," she giggled and walked on.
As she crossed the street a bluebird
flew past. It landed on a fence. It was the most beautiful bird she’d ever
seen; even more blue than the sky. "I’m thankful for bluebirds," she said
and hummed a pretty tune.
Further down the road she noticed a
tiny red ladybug running down the sidewalk. She wanted to pick it up but
it ran too quickly. It was bright red with big black spots on its back. It
spread its wings and flew over to a lemon-yellow tulip. "I’m thankful for
ladybugs," Madison skipped down the street.
She passed by so many things. There
was a cluster of purple violets growing in the park. A yellow and black
butterfly with gossamer wings fluttered from one daffodil to another. A
light brown puppy ran around in someone’s back garden. Madison laughed
when she heard it barking. Every time she saw something she felt was
beautiful, she felt thankful for being able to enjoy them.
Just before she went into her house,
one of her friends ran by carrying a plastic bag. Inside were water and a
goldfish. He was taking it home to put in a brand new fishbowl. Madison
thought it was bright and very pretty. Its fins and tail swished back and
forth in the water as it swam around inside the bag.
She went straight to her easel. The
painting of the apple tree was dry. She unclipped it from the easel and
set it down on her bed. She hung up another piece of paper. She dipped her
wet paintbrush into the red paint and drew a red rose, just like the one
she’d seen on her walk. Next to it she painted a bluebird, like the one
that had flown past her and landed on the fence. Under the bluebird she
painted a red and black ladybug. On the other half of the paper she
painted a butterfly, a violet, a brown puppy and a goldfish. ON the top of
the page she wrote the words, ‘Things I Am Thankful For’.
She put her paintbrush and her
paints back into the big box and slid it under her bed. She smiled,
thinking of the box of rainbows under her bed. |
