The Little Rainbow Bird
Once, a long time ago, a beautiful rainbow coloured bird flew high in the sky to look over the land. He could see rolling hills and fields. He could see rivers leading to the sea and he could see towns and cities. The wind was blowing hard and although he was strong his wings soon became tired.
Looking for a place to rest he saw a grey town nestled beside a river. As he flew lower and lower he began to hear sounds from the streets. He could hear the noise of cars, buses and lorries going very fast and he could hear the voices of people who were very busy going about their lives.
As he looked for a place to land he noticed that most of the grey buildings had spikes to stop birds landing. Indeed, as he flew around trying to find somewhere to settle he could see that there were no other birds in the town. In the streets there were no trees, no grass, no flowers - just grey pavements, roads, tarmac and concrete.
The little bird was growing more and more tired when suddenly he saw a tiny green plant growing in some dirt in a gutter on one of the oldest buildings. The little rainbow coloured bird landed next to the plant and shut his weary eyes as night fell over the town.
Although it was dark the noise from the town did not stop. There were still the sounds of cars and buses and lorries going very fast and the voices of people being very busy going about their lives.
In the morning the sun came up and warmed the little birds feathers. As he woke he gazed over the grey town and turned his head sadly and looked at the brave little plant, the only natural green in the town. As the sun caressed the leaves a small flower opened itself to the sky. The little bird smiled and knew what he had to do.
Perched on the edge of the guttering the little rainbow coloured bird lifted his head and began to sing.
It was such a beautiful sound that it seemed to float in the air and weave its way between the streets and the houses. As people came out of their houses they were entranced. What could be making such a wonderful sound?
Walking along the street a mother was taking her two children to their granny’s house so she could be early for her job. She had so much work to do that she seemed to have less and less time to spend with her children.
As she walked along with them the sound of the little birds voice came towards them. The two children shouted with delight and pointed in the air. “There, there,” they cried, “look a little bird has come to our town with every colour of the rainbow in its feathers and it’s singing for us.”
“We don’t have time to stop,” said their mother, but as the birds’ song warmed the air she realised that a few minutes spent listening to the music with her children was worth much more than being early for work.
But those three were not the only ones to hear the little bird’s song. All over the town people were stopping to listen. They were smiling and commenting to each other. They were winding down the windows of their cars and driving slowly so that they could hear the song. On the buses people were laughing and joking and the world did not seem such a bad place. Some people began to feel that they would like to sing and some of the children wanted to dance.
Sitting in the big Town Hall the Mayor looked through his closed window and said, “Now this will never do. What is happening out there, why can’t I hear the sound of cars and buses and lorries going very fast and the voices of people being very busy going about their lives?”
It was then that the Mayor’s Secretary walked in. “You’re late,” said the Mayor with a grumpy voice.
“I know,” said the Mayor’s Secretary and she didn’t seemed worried at all. “The most marvellous thing has happened. A little bird has stopped in the town and is singing. It is such a beautiful song that everybody seems to be in a brighter mood.”
The Mayor made a harrumph noise and asked for his first meeting of the day.
As the day wore on the Mayor noticed something very strange. In every meeting people were happier and, because they were happy, when the Mayor asked for things to be done they all seemed to say yes and were really positive.
The Mayor was so used to shouting at everyone to get his way he didn’t know what was wrong. As the day wore on he said to his Secretary, “Why is today so strange? Why is everyone being so helpful?”
The Mayor’s Secretary walked to the window and opened it. The sound of the bird’s song came into the office. He gazed out of the window onto his grey town and saw, in the distance, a little bright rainbow coloured bird singing without a care in the world.
The Mayor could not understand why such a simple thing should make people happy. He had done many wonderful things for the town. He had built new roads, new offices, factories and shops, bigger schools and he had tidied up all that messy stuff that dropped leaves and flowers that kept having to be swept up. The Mayor slammed his window shut and thought how ungrateful people are.
Down on the streets the people returning from work or school listened to the beautiful bird song and felt their hearts lifted. They began to realise how much they missed having trees, and flowers and birdsong in their town and in their lives.
As dusk came and the sun hid over the horizon the tiny flower shut its petals and the little bird rested his tired head on his wing. He had sung his song all day and his voice was very, very sore.
As the sun rose the next morning people opened their windows and doors to listen to the beautiful song but it did not come. For high in a gutter the flower could not bloom as the sun washed its petals. All he could do was stare at the little bird that lay dead beside him
A little old lady whose window looked down on the gutter was very sad at the sight. She had watered the flower when there was no rain and had looked in wonder when the little bird arrived. She opened her window, reached down and picked up the little bird and the flower and lifted them into her room.
She took an old biscuit tin and placed the bird and the flower inside and then she set off with a spoon. She walked to the edge of the town where the grass still grew and bent down. Slowly she dug a little hole in the ground and lay the little rainbow bird at the bottom. She placed the little flower on top and tears fell from her eyes onto them both as she put the soil back over them.
The day seemed empty and very, very long and it didn’t matter how much work the people did it couldn’t fill the hole in their hearts. As the sun set everyone felt sad. Even the Mayor was unhappy.
At night the little old lady thought how sad it would be that the people would never hear the beautiful song again - but she was wrong.
In fact all the people of the town were sad and wanted to hear the song again. But they knew that the little bird and its song was gone – but they were wrong.
For something miraculous happened in the night for from where the little bird and the flower were buried a magnificent tree grew with hundreds and hundreds of brightly coloured leaves.
In the morning word of the wonderous tree spread through the town and people came to see it even if it did make them late for work. As they gathered round they said to each other, “perhaps this tree will bring another bird to sing to us and make us happy.”
The Mayor went back to his very big desk and sat down. He thought long and hard about the day. He thought about why it was that happy people seemed to want to help and really get things done for the better. The little bird had done more than sing it had opened his eyes.
Things needed to change he decided. “Life shouldn’t be grey,” he said to himself, “life just shouldn’t be so busy with work. There has to be time for people to enjoy themselves, to appreciate the beauty of where we live, of who we are and of what we can do. And one magnificent tree cannot do it, we must help as well”
So the Mayor asked his Secretary to bring all his staff together right away in the great state hall as he had something important to say.
All that day there were lorries and drills and hammers and shouting all over the town.. All over the town people were lifting paving slabs to plant new trees. They were laying grass and planting flowers where concrete had been. Some people were even taking down the spikes from the buildings.
All day the people worked changing the grey of the town to the vibrant colours of flowers, trees and grass. Even the river seemed bluer as it reflected the brighter light.
In the evening people went back to the magnificent tree to look again at it’s beautiful leaves. This was the moment that the magic really did happen. Suddenly a wind blew threw the leaves and the began to fall from the branches. But as they fell they seemed to change and take flight and soon the sky was full of what looked like birds. Yes, yes, they were thousands of beautiful coloured birds, each one a different colour of the rainbow and more. They filled the trees and the rooftops of the buildings. They hopped on the grass and perched on the window sills and then …….. they sang.
A majestic chorus of bird song that made everyone feel so glad to be alive. A chorus that made people want to be kind, to think of others, to care about where they lived and to make sure they had time to play with the children. A song that made them want to dance and sing and play music.
Even the river began to fill with majestic white swans and people pointed and laughed and some even hugged each other. Greytown was full of colour now and people’s hearts were full of life.
The Mayor glanced down to the street below as people who were skipping by waved and shouted their thanks to him. He realised that for a town to truly live you have to encourage a love of life.
But remember, we all have to be careful because it’s very easy to forget to leave time for life and soon you can find you’re living back in Greytown with the sounds of cars and buses and lorries going very, very fast and the voices of people being very, very busy.
So you make sure you keep one eye open for the little coloured birds because they are there to remind you to have fun, to support others and to enjoy your life. In some towns the little birds are even used as a sign that something beautiful is happening. It might be happening inside a building, in a park or even in the town square.
If you see a little coloured bird, you know what to do.
