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How Jason Learned to Love the Rain

(COVER ART)

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This is a story about a boy named Jason. He was six years old.

Picture of Jason

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Jason liked to do a lot of things outside.

Picture of Jason riding his bike outside. He liked to ride his bike……

Picture of Jason hiding behind a tree. …..play hide and seek with his

friends…..

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Picture of Jason reading by flashlight in a tent.

…..camp out in his back yard…..

Picture of Jason at bat during a Little League

game. …..and play baseball for his little

league team.

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What he liked more than anything else was to visit the forest preserve that was near his house. It had big open

fields to run around in, and playgrounds to play in, and shelters with picnic tables where he could eat his lunch, and it

had lots of really long trails through the woods where he would go for hikes and look up at the sunlight shining through

the leaves.

Picture of Jason standing in a big forest in front of him, picnic tables to the right and a

playground to the left.

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One day Jason was riding in the car with his Mom and Dad and they drove past the forest preserve. Jason

suddenly remembered that his seventh birthday was coming up. He turned to his Mom and Dad and said, “May I please

have my birthday party in the forest preserve this year?”

His Mom and Dad both thought about it and said yes.

Picture of the Jason in the backseat of a car talking to his Mom and Dad; a sign for the

forest preserve is visible in the back seat window where Jason sits.

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When they got home Jason sat down with his Mom and Dad and talked about all the fun things he wanted do for

his birthday party. Since the forest preserve was so big, he could invite lots of people and do all kinds of fun things like

have a cook-out in the picnic shelter, and play soccer in the fields, and of course, play hide and seek, only in a really big

place like the forest preserve, there were a lot more places to hide, and a lot more places to seek.

Jason was so excited he could hardly stand it.

Picture of the Jason sitting at the dining room table talking with his Mom and Dad.

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The months went by. The invitations were sent out in the mail. Jason waited and waited and waited, until finally

it was his birthday.

Picture sitting in his bedroom watching a calendar.

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They had the party in a picnic shelter by a big field. Balloons and streamers were tied up all over the place.

Picture of a birthday party in a picnic shelter by a field.

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It was the best birthday party Jason ever had.

Picture of Jason’s Dad grilling

burgers on a charcoal grill. Jason‟s Dad grilled up his special

hamburgers that he made with barbecue

sauce and pepper.

Picture of Jason’s mother holding

a birthday cake. Jason‟s Mom made him chocolate

cake with that special frosting he liked.

Picture of Jason sitting at a picnic

table with a pile of presents and a

big smile on his face.

And Jason got lots of really cool

presents, like a skateboard, and a telescope

for looking at the stars.

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After Jason finished eating and had opened all his presents, he went out to the middle of the field with his friends

to play a game of soccer. They were having such a good time that they didn‟t notice the storm clouds that were moving

across the sky, that is, until those storm clouds blocked out the sun.

Picture of Jason standing in the field with his friends. A storm front is moving along the

sky.

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Jason looked up at the storm clouds and got worried. There weren‟t too many things in this world that he didn‟t

like, but one thing he definitely didn‟t like was rain, especially when he was outside, and most especially when it was his

birthday.

“Please don‟t rain,” Jason said to the clouds. “Please don‟t rain.”

Picture of Jason looking nervously up at the sky.

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Picture of a raindrop splashing on

Jason’s nose. Then he felt a raindrop land on his nose.

Picture of a raindrop splashing on

Jason’s cheek. And another one land on his cheek.

Picture of two raindrops splashing

on Jason’s arm. And two more on his arm.

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In just a few seconds, the rain came pouring down like water from a bathtub faucet. Everyone ran under the

shelter to keep from getting wet, and they all sat there waiting for the rain to stop.

But it didn‟t look like that was going to happen any time soon.

Picture of raindrops pouring down and people in the field scattering to get under the

shelter.

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Jason was very sad. This was the best birthday party he ever had and now the rain had ruined it. He went over to

one of the tables at the edge of the shelter to be alone. When Jason was sad, he liked to be alone.

Picture of Jason sitting alone at an empty picnic table looking sad.

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As Jason sat at the picnic table feeling sad, a ray of sunlight managed to poke through the clouds and shine

through the falling raindrops, right onto the grass, not far from where Jason was sitting. Now a funny thing happens to

sunlight when it passes through a lot of rain drops. It gets split up into different colors, and when that tiny ray of

sunlight passed through the rain, six colors appeared. They were Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue and Purple.

Picture of a ray of sunlight shining through the storm clouds; it shines through the

raindrops and is split into slivers of red, orange, yellow, green, purple and blue. The colors

appear right behind the picnic shelter. They have vaguely human faces, eyes a nose and a

mouth, they look a little like ghosts.

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The six colors heard people talking behind them. They turned around and saw Jason sitting at the picnic table

with his Mom, Dad and a few of his friends. They were trying to cheer him up, but they weren‟t having much luck.

Picture of the six colors turning around and seeing Jason sitting alone at the picnic table

looking sad.

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“I can cheer him up,” said Red. “Because I‟m the most beautiful color there is. Apples are red, cherries are red,

strawberries are red, all the fruits that little boys and girls like to eat are red. And I‟m the color of red roses, and clown

noses and Valentines Day cards. I am the prettiest color by far, and I can make that sad little boy feel better.”

Picture of Red standing proud. It has a dream bubble with apples, cherries, a Valentine’s

Day card, a clown nose, and a red rose.

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“No you can‟t!” Blue shouted back. “Danger Signs are red and Stop Signs are red. You‟re the color that scares

people and tells them they can‟t move. And you‟re the color of sunburn and scraped knees. You won‟t cheer that little

boy up, I will, because I‟m the color of the blue sky and when that little boy sees me, he‟ll think of the blue sky that‟s

covered up by those clouds and he‟ll feel happy.”

Picture of Blue arguing with Red. Blue has two dream bubbles, one has a Stop Sign, a

Danger Sign, a scraped knee and a sunburned arm. The other Blue dream bubble shows a

blue, cloudless sky.

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“No he won‟t,” said Yellow. “You‟re the color that makes people sad! Whenever people say they‟re sad, they say

„I‟m feeling blue.‟ And you‟re the color of freezing water, and the gowns that doctors wear at the hospital. I‟m the color

of the sun, and dandelions, and lemonade and lemon drops. I‟m a bright happy color that wakes people up and makes

them want to play and have fun.”

Picture of Yellow arguing with Blue. Yellow has two dream bubbles, one has a sad child, a

frozen pond and two doctors in blue scrubs. The other dream bubble shows the sun, lemon

drops and glasses of lemonade.

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“You‟re too bright,” Green said to Yellow. “People look at you and they go blind. I‟m the best color there is,

because I‟m the color of grass and bushes and leaves. I‟m the color of all the things that grow and make this world a

beautiful place to live.”

Picture of Green arguing with Yellow. Green has two dream bubbles, one has two people

being blinded by the sunlight. The other dream shows lush green trees, a field of green

grass and bushes.

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“You‟re the color of pea soup and icky vegetables,” Orange said. “And when someone is sick they say, „Wow, you

look a little green.‟ And whenever someone is jealous, they say, „That boy is green with envy.‟ And when people stop to

smell the flowers, they don‟t smell the stems because they‟re green and nobody cares about the green part. I‟m the color

of tiger lilies and sunsets, and orange soda, and basketballs. I‟m a nice, warm color that will make that boy feel better.”

Picture of Orange arguing with Green. Orange has two dream bubbles, one has a bowl of

pea soup, a plate of spinach, a kid with a stomachache who looks a little green a nasty kid

looking enviously at another kid with a toy, and a woman sniffing a tulip. The other dream

bubble shows tiger lilies, a sunset, an orange soda and a basketball.

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“You‟re an ugly color,” Purple said. “You‟re the color of construction signs! When people are stuck in traffic jams

for hours and hours, you‟re the color they see. I‟m the color of violets and grapes and the robes that kings wear.”

Picture of Purple arguing with Orange. Purple has two dream bubbles, one has a bunch of

construction signs on a highway with a huge traffic jam. The other dream bubble shows

violets, a bunch of grapes and a king in a purple robe.

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“You‟re a weird color. You make people look silly,” Red shouted. “And you‟re the color of bruises!” Red shouted.

Picture of Red arguing with Purple. There’s one dream bubble with bruises in it, and two

kids making fun of another kid in a purple shirt.

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And so the colors kept arguing back and forth about who was the prettiest color and who could cheer Jason up.

All of sudden, they heard another voice. Not the voice of Jason or his Mom or Dad. Not a voice from anyone at the

birthday party. It was a deep soft voice that came from above. It was the voice of the sunlight.

“Why don‟t you all cheer him up together,” the sunlight said.

“Cheer him up together?” Red asked.

“That‟s a silly idea,” Orange said.

“A very silly idea,” said Yellow.

Picture of the colors looking up at the sky. Sunlight shines down on them.

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“No it isn‟t,” the Sunlight said. “You are all beautiful colors, beautiful in your own special way. Some good things

have your colors, some bad things have your colors, but when all the colors work together, you become one big good

thing. And if that little boy sees you all working together, he won‟t think about the bad things. He‟ll think of the good

things.”

Picture of the Sunlight poking through the clouds.

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“But we don‟t know how to work together,” Green said.

“We‟ve never done it before,” added Blue.

“How should we do it?” Purple asked.

“Easy,” the Sunlight replied. “You join hands and stretch.”

“Join hands and stretch?” the six colors asked at the same time.

“Yes,” the Sunlight replied. “Try it.”

Picture of the colors looking up at the sunlight poking through the sky.

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Picture of the colors joining hands.

So Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue

and Purple all joined hands.

Picture of the colors stretching up off the ground. And they stretched.

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The more they stretched, the taller they got, until they stretched from one end of the forest preserve to the other,

all the way up into the sky!

Picture of the colors soaring into the sky, leaving a trail behind them; a rainbow.

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Meanwhile, Jason was still sitting at the picnic table staring at his shoes. Then Jason‟s Mom tapped him on the

shoulder. “Look Jason, it‟s a rainbow!” she said.

Jason looked up and saw the rainbow, stretching across the clouds in front of him.

Picture of Jason sitting at the picnic table looking up at the sky with his Mom.

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Picture of Jason looking at the rainbow. Jason had never seen a rainbow

before. He had seen pictures of rainbows

and he knew what they were, but he had

never seen one in real life (probably

because he didn‟t like the rain).

Picture of the Jason walking out into the field and

feeling the rain on his face. That rainbow in the sky was one of

the most beautiful things Jason had ever

seen. It was so beautiful that he decided to

get out from under the shelter and get a

better look at it. He walked right out into

the rain.

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When Jason looked up at the rainbow, he felt the cool rain on his face, and he liked it. Then he took off his shoes

and felt the wet grass between his toes. Jason thought, “The rain isn‟t so bad after all. Sure it blocks out the sun, and

it‟s wet and people usually go inside when it starts pouring down, but it feels good on my face, and it feels good on my

bare feet, and I wouldn‟t be seeing something as pretty as that rainbow if it wasn‟t raining.”

Picture of Jason standing in the field with a smile on his face.

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Then Jason looked out at the soccer field. “I‟ll bet playing soccer in the rain would be really fun,” Jason thought.

Jason turned to his friends, grabbed the soccer ball and said, “Wanna keep playing?”

Picture of Jason talking with his friends at the birthday party.

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His friends said yes, and they all went back out in the field.

And that‟s how Jason found the good in what he thought was bad, and learned to love the rain.

THE END

Picture of Jason playing soccer with his friends in the rain.