The Little Rainbow Pool

Cameron found a rainbow of colors shining on a shell under the water—and it fit in a space no bigger than his two hands.

It rested in a calm pool beneath a round hole in the reef. Moonlight slipped through the opening and lay across the water. Where it touched the shell’s smooth, pearly surface, pink, green, and blue shimmered together like ribbons.

Cameron hovered above them, hardly moving his tail.

“Hello,” he whispered.

The colors did not answer, but they seemed to change when he tilted his head. Pink leaned one way. Blue seemed to hide behind a ripple. Cameron turned carefully until the whole little rainbow came into view again.

He had never seen anything quite like it. He wanted to keep looking until he knew every part of it. And, he thought, perhaps he could keep it just for himself. It was so small that it felt like a secret made especially for him.

A soft swish sounded beyond the pool. Peyton, another young mermaid, was swimming along the reef with a basket of smooth stones.

“What are you looking at?” she called.

Cameron slid sideways, between Peyton and the patch of water. “Nothing,” he said too quickly.

Peyton slowed. “Nothing has you sitting very still?”

“I’m watching the sand,” Cameron said.

She glanced at the clear sand, then at his face. “All right. I’ll be over by the shell garden if you need me.”

Cameron watched her go. He felt glad that the rainbow was still his secret. Then he turned back to the pool.

The pink stripe had shifted. A little wave from Peyton’s tail had crossed the light, and the colors had slipped closer together. Cameron moved to find the best view again. He could see them, but only if he stayed in one particular place.

He smiled and settled there, keeping his body small and still. The hole in the reef framed a pale circle above him. The rainbow waited below, bright as a tiny treasure. Cameron decided he would guard the spot until he had finished looking.

He did not notice that his shadow was already stretching across the pool.

Cameron shifted to block the pool from the open reef. He wanted to make sure no one else spotted the colors. But as his shadow spread over the shell, the pink stripe thinned. The green vanished. Then the blue disappeared, too.

Cameron wriggled aside. The colors returned.

He moved back over the pool. They vanished again.

“Oh,” he murmured. He tried turning sideways, but his tail covered the light. He curled up small, but his head made a dark patch over the shell. Each time he guarded the rainbow, it slipped away.

Peyton came back, carrying her basket. She stopped a little distance from him. “Cameron, are you keeping something from me?”

“No,” he said. Then he looked down at the empty patch of sand. “Well… maybe.”

Peyton did not swim closer. “You look like you’re trying to hide the water.”

“I found a rainbow,” Cameron admitted. “I wanted to look at it by myself. But when I cover it, it disappears.”

He moved aside. Moonlight fell through the hole and reached the shell. Its pearly surface shimmered with the little colors again. Cameron understood: the colors were the shell’s own iridescent shine, showing when moonlight caught it at the right angle. They only seemed to float in the water. He could not tuck them away; the light needed room to reach the shell.

Peyton’s eyes widened. “May I see?”

Cameron hesitated. The rainbow was still beautiful, and letting someone else see it felt like giving away a treasure. Then he noticed how much space there was beside him—plenty for two.

“Yes,” he said. “Come sit here. The colors show up better from this side of me.”

Peyton settled beside him. Cameron pointed gently with one finger. “There’s the pink. Now follow it down to the green. The blue is hiding at the edge.”

“I see it!” Peyton said. “The blue looks like a tiny stream.”

Cameron leaned toward the pool. From his spot, he could see all three colors at once. Peyton could see them, too. The light shifted a little, and the colors slid across the shell.

“Your turn,” Cameron said. “Tell me what you notice.”

They took turns pointing, careful not to cross the beam. Each found a new angle, and each made room for the other to look. The colors stayed visible wherever the light reached the shell.

For a while, neither mermaid said much. The pool held still around them, with only a soft swish as water brushed the sand. Moonlight still came through the round opening, though the bright patch had begun to move along the shell.

“Now the green is near the edge,” Peyton whispered.

Cameron tilted his head. “And the pink is almost touching it.”

They leaned closer, then eased back so they would not shade the light. Cameron pointed to a narrow blue line. Peyton found a pale green glimmer that looked different from her side. When Cameron shifted a little, she showed him where to look, and he saw it too.

The colors slowly grew thinner. The pink faded first, like a ribbon being gently pulled away. The green lingered on the shell, then softened until Cameron had to squint to find it. At last, only a small blue mark remained.

“Good night, little rainbow,” Peyton said.

Cameron smiled. “I’m glad you saw it.”

“I’m glad you showed me where to look.”

They stayed beside the pool even after the last color slipped away. The shell was still there, resting on the sandy floor. The opening above it held a circle of moonlight, and the water was still enough to reflect its pale shape.

Cameron no longer tried to cover the spot. He sat with his hands resting on his knees and watched the light lie across the pool. Peyton placed her basket of smooth stones beside her and chose one that fit neatly in her palm.

“Which color was your favorite?” she asked.

“Blue,” Cameron said. “It looked as if it had somewhere to go.”

“Mine was green,” said Peyton. “It seemed to stay the longest.”

They remembered the colors together, pointing to the places where each had been. Cameron could still picture the pink stripe, the green edge, and the blue thread. Sharing them had not made the rainbow smaller. It had given him someone to remember them with.

The moonlight shifted farther across the sand. Cameron and Peyton sat side by side in the pool’s calm blue quiet, letting the little rainbow’s colors rest in their minds.