"When we are thirty-somethings and we just got sick and tired of life. When we have a family of our own but we barely feel the family. 
When we have a load of cash, but what we wanted isn't that banknotes, 
When we want to lead a routine, but the routine is leading us,
When we had forgotten the last time when we find something funny, 
Or forgotten when was the last time we actually genuinely smile, 
When what we used to love, had really became a past tense, 
When we had forgotten our dreams. 
Or when our world seems to be crashing down. 

Let's meet at the end of the rainbow. " 

She stare hard at the piece of letter written. 
They were only fifteen. 
Before they had take on the world onto their shoulders. 

She swallowed, picked up her keys and closed the door behind her. She took the wheel of the car and drove down that familiar path she knew by heart. The radio was hiccuping with the bad signal over at the end of the town, she could faintly make out that "Country Road" was playing. A western oldie, she never seemed to understand the lyrics. But it was apt, right now, singing her soul out. 

" To the place where I belong, West ia, Mountain Mama, Take me home, Country Road... " 

She gave a heavy sigh and cast a lazy glance around her. Life wasn't like this. What should have happened was that the both of them will be leading their life with happiness and dreams. She had always wanted to be fashion designer, but she was instead landed with a job at a boutique store. She was supposed to be lovey-dovey with the man of her dreams, loving for nine odd years, and he was the one who took her marriage proposal by the bridge on the early hours of a Saturday morning. Now he's probably sleeping in another woman's arms, because he's sick and tired of her. She felt a tear rolled down, but she did nothing to stop her thoughts. She should have a happy family, but she found that she was barren three years ago. She had never cried so much in her life. And she was suppose to be happy, supposed to be. She closed her eyes momentarily, and inhaled more air to flush those negative air around her. Well, the person who wrote this letter, she wasn't sure how his life was leading, but better than her, perhaps. 

She opened her eyes and gave a swerved to turn into the old cottage. A small signpost hung the scrawny words hand painted " Rainbow " on a shabby wooden plank. She stood in her car for one hundred and twenty-three seconds. She counted. She gave a sigh, got off her car and locked her car. She inhaled the fresh country air, and took a step forward. 

She glanced around, nothing has changed. 
She could see snippets of old memories over here and there. 
She walked nearer, and found herself lost in the nostalgia of the past. 
The past remains as a past tense right? 

She wondered if he will be here. 
She pulled her lips into a long frown. 

She found an old swing, and took it to her hand. She hasn't swing since ten years ago. Thirty-three year old woman shouldn't be swinging swings. Society told her that. 

It had drizzled a little and the morning rays were warm to cast a rainbow arc across the blue hue skies. 

She was wondering, if she swing high enough, will she touch the rainbows? 


She swung for fifteen minutes. Her phone told her that. 

She walked to the cottage and listened the the crackling of the dried leaves. 

She hasn't felt serenity for so long. 
She hasn't felt like herself for so long. 
She hasn't been by herself, alone, for so long. 

She saw an odd note pinned to the wooden doors. 
She flipped opened, it was his handwriting. 


" When you read this, you're probably in the valley of your life. 
A valley, because you only see mountains beside you, and a river that cuts between. A valley because you can't see the other side of the world, you're blocked by just two mountains. You just got to have the heart to move the mountains. 
My dear, by the time you've read this, I probably wouldn't have been able to wait for you. After you left to the cities to further your studies, a few years after we have lost touch, I realised I had a fatal illness. I wondered if you still remembered our promise back when we were fourteen, " 
She gave a small giggle and corrected him, " It's fifteen you silly boy, still as forgetful," 
She continued to read on. 
"I was also at the valley of my paths, I saw two green mountains by the side, and a smaller sky than my dreams. I didn't had the chance to have a family, have a career, but I was me. I took the swing twice a day, and play with the sticks like how we used to. I realised, the doctor gave me three years to live, but I have a heart to live for eternity. I had forgave the old man who used to gave us less ice-cream, and that mean old boy that used to yank your hair. I forgave the day our teacher made us stand outside of class, I forgave the president that locked me out of my own dorms. I forgave so many people, and I forgave you for leaving me behind. And from that point, I realised I had already lived for more than the three years given to me. I am not bounded by the sadness in life but the happiness of it. I remember the time we took off to the mountains because you were mad at your parents but you didn't dare to run away from home alone. I remember the day you were frightened of bugs so much, that I had spend a whole night checking your room was safe. I remember the time we stood below the night skies and wondered if we are lucky, or totally unfortunate if a shooting star land on us. I remembered the day, I took you by hand and ask for you to be my prom date, and you agreed. These are past, and soon you will call my name with a past tense behind. But the memories are eternity. And they are more important that what you are faced with now. All it takes, is a heart to move the mountains. You have a long life ahead of you. 
You have a better life than me. 
My age stops at twenty. 
But yours continues until your heart dies. 

Have faith. " 

She went to the back of the rainbow cottage, she found three small boxes softly pressing on the grass beneath. She opened, and found a letter and a memory in each box. 
The envelopes wrote, 
" Read this when you are sad", 
"Read this when you are giving up", 
" Read this when you forget yourself" 

Maybe everyone finds a treasure at the end of the rainbow, it's a matter of if they view it as a treasure. 

"You were my best friend. " She whispered. 
"You are forever my best friend. " 
Another tear slid down.