Elara loves to paint! Her house looks exactly like a rainbow, with splashes of blue, green, red and any color that you can think of! Not only was her house colorful but her paintings. Her paintings were even more colorful with glittering waterfalls, fluffy clouds, and fields of wildflowers. Anyone who saw her paintings always left with a smile because the paintings always felt warm and welcoming. 

One day, Elara's paint brush wouldn't make colors anymore. When she tried to paint a red apple, it turned grey and when she tried to paint a rainbow, it also turned grey. All of her beautiful colors have disappeared, Elara felt sad, she wished her colors will come back. Anyone who walked by her house also left with a gloomy sad frown. She thought she would never get her colors back. 

One day, Elara wanted to go on little walk to the big city. She walked through the busy marketplace where she saw very colorful buildings, all sorts of food, and flowers. Her seeing all these colorful things suddenly made Elara feel very sad and especially jealous. Suddenly, something shiny caught her eye in a store window. Elara walked over and looked at something with nine branches that has candles on it. 

A kind lady with a smile noticed Elara looking at the shiny candle holder, "This menorah is beautiful, isn't it?" she said. Elara nodded, the kind lady explained that the menorah was used on the holiday called Hanukkah, where people light candles to chase away the darkness  (Chabad.org). So, even if there is times when there is no hope, the little flames will keep up a sense of hope for everyone.

Elara felt much more better after hearing what the kind lady told her. Maybe there will be better places to find brand new ideas for her beautiful paintings. The next day, Elara walked into a quiet church. Inside, the sunlight shined through a stained glass window, making the room look like a rainbow. Red, green, yellow and blue all danced around the room! Elara saw how beautiful this window is and gasped in awe.

A friendly priest with a twinkle in his eye approached, "Hello there", he said kindly, "Aren't those windows beautiful?" Elara nodded, speechless. The priest chuckled, "You may think these are just color windows, but they tell a much bigger story. Like this one here, you may just see a king, but he has an entire story behind this little piece of colorful window." The priest turned back to Elara, "The windows give light to the church, so remember, if you ever feel sad, know that it casts out shadows and brings relief." (Faith).