Author's Note: I don't own Rainbow Brite, or any other character from Rainbow Land. Hallmark came up with the original ideas, then a company called DIC made an animated series based on it. I think Mattel may have had the toy rights. Anyways, none of those entities are ME. VIA Rail and Amtrak aren't mine either.

Rainbow Brite and I

Chapter One: The Rainbow Key

My name is Derrick. I was a service agent. I worked for VIA Rail, I had numerous tasks. My life changed forever on one day in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I, along with a few others, were waiting for the Toronto-bound Maple Leaf. Actually, since the year 2006 it went all the way to Kingston. But the train's destination was irrelevant. I waited as the train pulled up to the platform. It was a six-car long Amtrak Amfleet train pulled by a Genesis II locomotive. A trio of Customs and Immigration officials (the train had just crossed the border from New York) rushed onto the train through one door.

Now, someone had the bright idea to build a jewelry store near the train station. A few moments later I'd be asking what idiot gave the go-ahead for THAT. The first passenger to pass customs walked off through the open door. He was a handsome looking man, roughly my age. Brown hair, and built like an NFL linebacker. And then tragedy broke. I heard a loud alarm bell from that jewelry store that was nearby, and a man in leather with a black mask rushed out, carrying a filled bag and a rifle. A pair of his accomplices rushed out behind him, one carrying more loot, the other carrying a pair of Magnums that he decided to fire warning shots with. Sadly he was not good at firing warning shots. Besides firing some into the air, and at the wall of the station, one bullet hit the passenger who just got off. I volunteered to help him, as the thugs made their getaway. Since basic life-saving skills were standard training for VIA staff in this day and age, I knew what to do. One of my colleagues dialed 911 in the meantime. I opened a general tool kit that was on hand, and got out some small things from the first aid section. He had several bullet wounds, one to the stomach. He screamed for what seemed like a minute, then he calmed down. I assured him the ambulance was on its way. He reached into a pocket, his hand unsteady. "Take…this" he grunted. He handed me a key. "Don't…give…to ANYONE…not even my family…they wouldn't understand!" I looked at the key. Its head was weird. A rainbow with a star-sparkle, with the actual "body" of the key attached to the star. He was breathing heavily. "THE PAIN!" he said. "Use key in lock…any lock…Tell Rainbow…I loved her!" I kept the key hidden in a pocket on my uniform. I assumed that he was delirious. But still, the key looked odd. I hoped that it wasn't an intentional hit. I wondered if I'd find myself embroiled in a conspiracy worthy of a Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum novel. Was I about to be contacted by members of some secret US government agency so secret that not even the President knew about its existance or something? Was this key able to activate some deadly nuclear weapons? Something told me…to trust him. I'd give the key to no one. But some of his mumblings made no sense. Unfortunately, his health quickly deteriorated. His breathing slowed down, and I felt his pulse, it was weakening. "Goodbye!" I heard him croak. Then his breathing stopped.

Over two hundred passengers were inconvenienced when their train was held up for an hour so that the coroner could arrive. This man, identified as "Brian" by his passport, was officially pronounced dead. This was the first time I actually witnessed a murder in person.

I kept the key with me at all times, I even attached it to my key-ring, along with my house key, my mailbox key and my car-key. But I found it silly, that someone would give me a key and not tell me what lock it fit in. If I momentarily thought I'd been dropped into a Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum world of intrigue, suspense, and espionage, where this key led me defied their imaginations.

A few days later, when I had finished my shift, gotten off a train in Windsor, Ontario, curiosity got the better of me. "Any lock" were the words I heard. I walked into a passageway that said "VIA Employees only." The hallway was nice and empty. Good. And there was a store-room that had a lock on it. Even better. I took out this Rainbow Key and tried putting it in the lock. I was half expecting it not to fit. It fitted all right, so that's the secret? It was a skeleton key? I unlocked the door, expecting to find crates or something. Instead I saw a long rainbow heading through a clear sky. I took the key out of the lock, and closed the door behind me.

"Toto, we ain't in Ontario any more!" I jokingly said.

At the end of the rainbow I saw a very colorful site before me. There was color everywhere, and in front of me was a colorful castle. Well, Brian told me to find this "Rainbow", whoever she was. A strange creature, looking something like an oversized Koosh ball with a face, limbs and antennae appeared. It was purple in color. He just chatted something in a different language. "Uh, are you Rainbow?" I asked. The thing shook its head. "Is there a Rainbow here? I'm looking for a rainbow…not the thing in the sky, someone named Rainbow!" The thing chattered in an incomprehensible manner and then ran off.

I waited for a bit, and then turned around to leave. I wanted to get back to Windsor, and back to my place. I was about to turn around when I heard footsteps. Then I saw her. She was cute, youngish looking (I'd later find out that she and others of her "race" age differently), and had a warm smile. I felt really bad about what I was going to tell her. She had her blonde hair up in a bun, with a ribbon in it, and she had a purple star under one of her eyes. She wore a dark blue quasi-futuristic dress, as well as rainbow-colored sleeves, and red suspenders that were in place solely to keep a belt in place, a belt with a rainbow and a star on it. She also wore colorful boots. "Pardon me, is there a Rainbow here?" I asked in my most official sounding voice.

"That's me, Rainbow Brite…who are you?"

"Derrick Henderson, VIA Rail Canada. You didn't happen by any chance to know a Brian did you?"

"Brian? Yes, he's my friend!" She then looked at me funny.

"I have bad news for you, uh, Ms. Brite. At 4:30 PM, on Friday the 13th, Brian was shot as he exited train number 98-63. A robbery in progress at a jewelry store adjacent to the Niagara Falls station resulted in him being shot. Regrettably, he did not survive, the coroner pronounced him dead on the spot." Dark clouds momentarily passed over us. A nice irony in the weather.

"You're not serious? Brian…dead? But how did you come here?"

"As he was dying, he passed me a funny key and told me not to give it to anyone, and to tell you that he love you!"

"Me?" asked Rainbow, shocked. I felt awkward. Here I am, in a land of total strangers, telling someone in front of some magical castle that her friend was dead. This wasn't even part of my line of work.

"I'm sorry to break the news, Ms. Brite!" I apologized.

"It's not Ms., silly, it's Rainbow!" She then turned around towards me with a different look in her face, a slightly menacing one, "And why should I believe you, Mr. VIA, that Brian is dead? Are you working for Murky? ARE YOU? You're just trying to upset us!" Her eyes were shooting bullets at me with their stare. I slowly backed off. The denial stage. "You're Mean, you're lying!" Just then another furball, this one white, appeared behind me.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Home! I came here to deliver the news because Brian asked me to before he passed away!"

"You're Lying!" it insisted.

"You want the truth?" I asked, as I ran around him and towards the rainbow out, "You can't HANDLE the truth!" I then took out the key and threw it down. I heard Rainbow going after the key. Good, I could escape.

"Derrick, WAIT!" she yelled. "I'm sorry!" I turned around, and saw her holding the key. I walked back to her. Then she began to cry. More grey clouds were passing over. "Why, why, WHY?" she cried in denial. Tears raced down her cheeks. I slowly walked towards her. I could tell Brian was a close friend. She hugged the white furball, hoping to feel better. I felt terrible.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow! I wish that it didn't happen. If it's any consolation, I was upset. Seeing someone innocent gunned down like that for no good reason…it's senseless!" I then got up to leave, 'I might as well go, I only brought you sadness!" Rainbow ran up to me.

"Wait, take this!" she handed me the Key. "I want you to come back tommorow!" she explained. "So that I can…say goodbye….It's been a long time since I…said goodbye!" she was crying again. "I wasn't even Rainbow Brite the last time…I was just plain old Wisp!"

I didn't know what to say. The news I gave her was like running over her heart with a train. "When Brian…handed me the key…I didn't know what to do. I thought he was crazy. But then…I somehow knew…he wasn't. And when I found out what this key does…I had to honor his last request, and give you the message!"

"Thanks, Brian!" said Rainbow Brite as she hugged me. She had a bitter-sweet look on her face. "Since he isn't here…I needed to hug someone LIKE him instead!"

We exchanged good-byes, and I left on the rainbow. I could have easily told everyone what I saw, but nobody would believe me. Besides, there are somethings that are best left secret.

The next day, after work, I made use of the key again. On hand was Rainbow, as well as the white furball, and many other furballs. Rainbow told me the correct name for those things was "Sprites." Besides her, there was also her horse, a white horse with rainbow mane and a rainbow tail, and several people of Rainbow's "race", of different colors. The most striking thing about them was each one had hair of a different color, and they were dressed in that color. There was a boy in red (Red Buttler), a girl in orange (Lala Orange), another girl in yellow (Canary Yellow), a girl in green (Patty O'Green), a boy in blue (Buddy Blue), a girl in indigo (simply "Indigo", for some reason she just had one name), a girl in violet (Shy Violet), and even one in pink (Tickled Pink). I had changed into a dark suit, considering the occasion. I soon found out I needn't have bothered.

"Why you dressed so glum?" asked Rainbow.

"You're saying goodbye to Brian. Where I'm from this is what you wear to funerals. Funerals are very glum! It's hard to be cheerful about death!"

"But we always use color!" explained Rainbow. Without asking, she pressed a hand against her belt, and produced some star-shaped sprinkles with the other. The belt glowed, and then she projected a rainbow beam at me. My suit was so loud that If I had a frilly cravat and a pair of plain glasses, I'd be mistaken for Austin Powers.

The Rainbow Land All Sprite Band began playing a song. I noticed that while they did have some minor chords, they seldom went all out sad. As if they had to maintain color, no matter what. Rainbow enterd the Color Castle and re-appeared on a balcony.

"Today is a sad day!" began Rainbow Brite with a semi-somber voice. "Brian is gone, but not forgotten!" A glum filled the crowd. "Sadly, for the first time, I must produce the Inverted Rainbow right here, in Rainbow Land!" Again she activated her rainbow-belt, and this time she produced a rainbow in the sky, but with violet on top and red on the bottom. It was also slightly less opaque than the other one. I heard about inverted rainbows, but this was the first time I ever saw one. The crowd looked at it in amazement. I could tell, from their faces, that this was the first time, in recent history at least, that they had been to a funeral. "We say goodbye, as Brian rides on the Inverted Rainbow, to the *Happy Place*, place in the *Above*." Then it was time for the eulogies. Each of the Color Kids, as those people were called, gave one, as did some of the Sprites, Twink being the one who translated for all the others. Even Starlite did.

The penultimate one was to be said by me, and I wasn't sure what to say. If I had taken up that PR position up for grabs, then maybe I'd know what to say…but then again I wouldn't have had an opportunity to get the Key. I approached the raised dais that was used for the occasions. I cleared my throat, and then began speaking.

"I didn't know Brian for that long. He stepped off a train I was assigned to before it was my train, while it was officially still an Amtrak train. He was handsome, tall, looked like he was a linebacker for an NFL team." I felt awkward. At the heat of the moment, it hadn't occurred to me that nobody here had heard of NFL, or Amtrak. "He was happy and full of life, until a stray bullet from a hold-up occurred. That bullet slowly robbed him of his life. It was a terrible tragedy. His last words were for me to take the Rainbow Key, and to tell Rainbow that he loved her!" I could see Rainbow blushing. "This is a sad loss for us all!" After that Rainbow gave the final eulogy.

"I feel touched, that he wanted me to know, that he loved me. But I'll never be able to feel that love. Never will I kiss him. I'm feeling a sadness, something sadder than anything Murky and Lurky could have thought up. But just because Brian is no longer with us in person, doesn't mean he can't be with us in spirit. We will always remember him!"

After that the All Sprite Band then played something that sounded like a cross between Sound Garden's "Black Hole Sun" and The Beatles' "Michelle."

We ate in the dining hall that evening, except there wsa one empty seat, and Rainbow insisted it be kept empty. I took it it was symbolic for Brian. Rainbow sat on one side of the empty chair, and I sat on the other side of her. The food we ate came in many different colors, and I sometimes wondered if they had a hang-up or something. However, I was happy to be included as a friend, even though I brought bad news. I told them everything about myself and what I do. I was right, they kept asking about "VIA" and "Amtrak", although the rails weren't that alien, especially since the castle was connected by rails to a mine on a mountain. However, instead of diesel, the mine-carts came down by gravity, and were hauled up by a special moving cable system. I learned also that these strange people took it upon themselves to keep their world, and the Earth colorful. Somehow their world was connected to the Earth.

After dinner I said goodbye, and Rainbow reminded me NOT to lose the key. Little did I realize then how important Rainbow Land…and Rainbow Brite…would become to me.

To be continued…

Author's Notes: This is kind of a semi-self insertion. Derrick is kinda inspired by me, but not exactly me. I'm just not the type to do straight self-insertions.