A Very Ban-able Children’s Story

Once upon a time, on a farm named Solid Ground, lived a little boy named Liam. The farm was a world of brown. The dirt in the fields was brown. The big, sturdy barn was painted brown. The cozy farmhouse was brown. Even Liam’s favorite overalls were a plain, sensible brown corduroy.

Liam had lots of animal friends. He had chickens that scratched in the brown dirt, ducks that waddled by the brown pond, goats that nibbled on brown feed, and cows that mooed in the brown barn. They were all lovely animals, but they were all…well…brown.

“Brown is a good, strong color,” his father would say, ruffling Liam’s hair. “It’s the color of the earth. It’s natural.”

His mother would nod. “Down-to-earth, just like us.”

But Liam didn’t feel brown and down-to-earth on the inside. On the inside, Liam felt like he was full of sparkles. Tiny, fizzy, giggling sparkles that danced and twirled. They weren’t just one color; they were every color he could imagine. They were the fiery orange of a sunset, the brilliant magenta of a raspberry, and the dazzling blue of a dragonfly’s wing.

One evening at dinner, he tried to explain. “I have sparkles inside me,” he told his parents quietly. “They’re all the colors of the rainbow.”

His parents looked at each other. “That doesn’t sound very natural, son,” his father said gently. “It’s best to stick with things that are real and down-to-earth,” nodded his mother.

Liam’s heart felt heavy. He looked down at his brown overalls and wished, more than anything, that he could find a way to let his sparkles out for the world to see.

Years passed. The sun rose and set, the seasons changed, and Liam grew up. He was tall and strong now, and Solid Ground Farm became his to care for. But as he looked around at the familiar world of brown, he remembered the sparkles that still danced inside him. He decided it was time for a change.

The first thing to go were the brown cows and goats. Then, instead of planting rows of brown-husked corn, Liam began to plant flowers. He planted sunny yellow daffodils that bobbed their heads in the breeze and rows of tulips that stood like soldiers in coats of red, purple, and pink. He planted climbing roses that wrapped around the fences, their velvet petals every shade imaginable. Soon, he had whole fields of flowers, a patchwork quilt of color that shimmered under the sun.

He brought new animals to the farm, too. He found ducks with iridescent green heads that shone like jewels in the pond water, which, with the addition of a little fountain pump, now sparkled a bright blue, reflecting the sky. And his favorite of all were the peacocks, who fanned their magnificent tails into a breathtaking masterpiece of sapphire blue, emerald green, and shimmering gold.

One sunny morning, Liam took out two big cans of paint. He painted the big, sturdy barn a brilliant, cheerful red. He painted the cozy farmhouse a bright, sunny yellow and gave it a friendly green door.

Finally, he looked down at his old brown overalls. He smiled and got to work. He found scraps of fabric—a piece of a red checkered tablecloth, a swatch of a blue floral dress, a bit of sunshine-yellow curtain—and stitched them together. He created a brand-new pair of overalls, a rainbow of squares and patterns. And for the final touch, he took out a jar of glittering rhinestones and a tube of glue. He bedazzled swirls and starbursts all over them, making them shine and sparkle with every step he took.

One day, a man with a smile as warm as the sun came to buy flowers. He told Liam it was the most beautiful farm he had ever seen. He loved the red barn and the yellow house, and he especially loved Liam’s sparkling overalls. Soon, the man and Liam were working side by side, and they fell in love. Together, they put up a new sign at the end of the lane. It read: Rainbow Acres.

People came from far and wide to buy their beautiful flowers. Artists set up easels in the fields, trying to capture the magnificent colors on their canvases. Children would laugh and point at the proud peacocks, their eyes wide with wonder.

As the sun began to set, casting a golden glow over everything, Liam sat on his porch next to his husband. He looked out at the red barn, the yellow house, the shimmering peacocks, and the endless fields of color that stretched out before him. He looked down at his own dazzling overalls, which caught the last rays of light and threw tiny rainbows onto the porch steps.

The sparkles he had always felt on the inside were finally on the outside, too. They weren’t hidden anymore. They were everywhere, in every corner of his colorful world, for everyone to see. And Liam knew, with a heart full of joy, that this was the most natural thing in the world.