Suddenly, after the rain one day, the end of a rainbow appeared, enveloping this young tree, the tree itself shimmering and glowing with these brilliant and beautiful pulsing lights. Awesome. Incredible. A moment from God.

Are not our dream-fulfillment moments, such as opening an envelope and having an unexpected check fall to the floor, similar to this shimmering rainbow? Four rainbows in a lifetime of woes. Sounds like a line from a poem, but I haven't written that one yet.

I am trying to think of four 'rainbow moments' in my life, and the first two that came to mind are writing-related. The first one, Grade Five, ten years old, and the Superintendent of Schools or someone entering the classroom and announcing that me, I, little Alice Bateman, had won a county-wide weed essay contest. My first writing reward - indigenous weeds! Five dollars and a banquet with the county level of government.

The other one I thought of was when I first saw a script that I had written {a modern-day adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde} playing on TV. Only a very local Toronto channel, but Other People Were Watching. My heart almost pounded out of my chest! It was then that I knew for sure that Writing is what I want to be known for, nothing else, no other profession interests me enough to pursue it totally. I can do many other things, but being a writer is who I am, what I do.

The two other 'rainbow' moments? I'm not sure. There is always so much pain mixed in with any pleasure, even when I worked with the Nylons, a Canadian A Capella group, there was too much pain; the death of one member and of another member's lover. The dark balanced the light so well that there could not have been a rainbow. I will have to think of the others, or perhaps they are still to come. Four rainbows for a lifetime. Sounds like another line - what was the first one?