Ruby and the Rainbow Paintbrush

Ruby loved to paint. She painted flowers and butterflies and big happy suns. One rainy afternoon, Ruby found something special under her bed — a paintbrush that glowed with all the colors of the rainbow!

"Wow!" said Ruby. She dipped the brush in water and painted a picture of her neighbour, Mrs. Gupta, smiling. Something magical happened. The painting sparkled, and a warm feeling floated out of the paper like a golden bubble.

Ruby ran to Mrs. Gupta's house. Mrs. Gupta was sitting alone, looking sad. "I painted this for you!" said Ruby, holding out the picture.

Mrs. Gupta's eyes grew wide. "Oh, Ruby! This is the most beautiful thing anyone has given me in a long time." She hugged the painting and smiled the biggest smile Ruby had ever seen.

The rainbow paintbrush glowed brighter.

The next day, Ruby painted a picture of her friend Arjun scoring a goal, because he had been feeling bad about losing his football match. When she gave it to him, Arjun laughed and stuck it on his wall. "This makes me feel like I can try again!" he said.

The paintbrush glowed even brighter.

Ruby painted pictures for the school watchman, for her little brother, for the stray cat that sat outside her window. Every time she painted something kind, the brush grew more colourful.

One evening, Ruby noticed something. She looked at her hands. They were glowing too — softly, like starlight. She didn't need the paintbrush to spread kindness. The magic had been inside her all along.

Ruby smiled, climbed into bed, and whispered, "Goodnight, rainbow paintbrush." The brush twinkled on her desk as she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of all the kind things she would do tomorrow.