Beyond the Rainbow

Epilogue

A few days later, it was Tuesday. Labor Day had already passed, and the students and teachers returned to school.

"Well, we spent the last two days cleaning up from the tornado, but all that hard work was worth it," Doretha said.

"Indeed, it was," Marcy agreed.

Suddenly, Amber's limo pulled up, and she came out, having removed the skunk smell. Doretha just rolled her eyes in disgust, but many of her peers just smirked at Amber.

"I see everyone's grown to appreciate moi," Amber said smugly.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Hero's older brother snorted. "Everyone is trying not to laugh at you because you got skunked in the town square."

The color practically drained out of Amber's face. "You saw that?" she gulped.

"It's the talk of Sunflower Bay," Hero said.

"Speaking of which, you should consider thanking my sister since she was the one who told you how to get the smell out," Marcy said.

Everyone else agreed with Marcy, but Amber thought that was frivolous.

"As if I ever would," Amber scoffed. But she wasn't looking where she was going, and so she tripped and fell face down in a horse dropping.

Everyone laughed at Amber, who was disgusted and humiliated. Nobody laughed harder than Doretha, whom Amber had been making feel bad for her zoology knowledge. This was the perfect karma Amber deserved for treating Doretha badly last week.

"I have the feeling this is going to be the talk of the school for the whole week," Doretha snorted.

"If not the month, let alone the year," Marcy giggled. "She'll probably be smelling that for a few days."

Amber got up, her face covered in horse dropping. "Nothing to see here—move along," she sighed.

The school day went very well for Doretha—Amber, not so much. Amber was so embarrassed about what happened this morning that she didn't bother to talk to Doretha at all. Doretha didn't mind because she was happy that Amber was finally out of her hair. In fact, everyone was so disgusted from what happened this morning that they didn't want to get near Amber, much less talk to her even if she'd washed that dropping off her face.

After school, the sisters made it home, and they were still amused by what happened this morning. Emily, Eric, Zeke, Hunk, and Hickory were happy to see the girls. "Ah, girls, how was school?" Emily asked.

"Great," the sisters chorused.

"What about you, Doretha?" Zeke asked. "What happened with Amber?"

"She got karma for the way she treated me last week," Doretha chortled. "She fell face first in a pile of horse dropping."

"Oh, my," Hickory said. "That's even worse than skunk."

"Amber would've been better off smelling like skunk even if the smell would burn every nose off," Eric said.

"Well, whether she talks to me or not, I'm sure to defy gravity, and nobody in all of Sunflower Bay is ever going to bring me down," Doretha smiled.

"Good girl," Eric smiled. "Okay, girls, we'll let you get started on your homework."

"Okay," the sisters chorused.

Doretha entered her bedroom and found Sophie up there on the shelf. She picked up Sophie and gave her a hug. "Oh, Sophie, that trip through Oz was just what I needed to boost my self-esteem," she smiled. "Not only should you stay confident in a crisis like last week, but there's no place like home!"

Doretha learned a big lesson: no matter what reason someone had to treat you badly, you should never let that person bring you down. It's never smart to be less than who you are. Eventually, your skills are sure to come in handy at some point. It can be easy to doubt yourself, which is why you may need something to help you realize how good you really are.