The Rainbow That Shouldn't Exist
Everyone says a rainbow is a sign of hope.
But in the forgotten village of Vellichal, people never looked at the sky after rain.
The elders had a single warning:
«"If you see a rainbow at sunset, don't count its colors."»
No one knew why. Until Arun returned to his childhood village.
---
It had rained all afternoon. As the clouds drifted away, a beautiful rainbow appeared across the forest.
One…
Two…
Three…
Four…
Five…
Six…
Seven…
Arun smiled.
Then he froze.
There was an eighth color.
It wasn't red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, or violet.
It was... black.
The black band seemed to move like smoke, twisting across the sky.
The air became silent.
Birds stopped singing.
Even the wind disappeared.
That night, someone knocked on Arun's door.
Three slow knocks.
He opened it.
No one.
Only wet footprints leading inside the house.
Every mirror reflected someone standing behind him.
When he turned around…
Nothing.
The next morning, the village priest whispered,
“You counted all eight colors.”
Arun laughed nervously.
“There are only seven.”
The priest looked terrified.
“Not anymore.”
---
Every evening after that, the black rainbow appeared.
Each time it grew darker.
Each time another villager disappeared.
No screams.
No bodies.
Only muddy footprints and broken mirrors.
Arun searched through his grandfather's diary and found an old legend.
Long ago, a spirit known as The Eighth Color was trapped inside the sky by seven guardian lights.
As long as people believed rainbows had only seven colors, the spirit remained imprisoned.
But anyone who witnessed—and acknowledged—the hidden eighth color weakened the prison.
Every person who saw it became part of its escape.
---
On the seventh night, the rainbow stretched across the entire sky.
The black color dripped downward like ink.
It touched the ground.
Shadows began walking without owners.
Children spoke to invisible friends.
Dogs barked at empty roads.
Arun knew the spirit had almost escaped.
He climbed the old hill where the rainbow seemed to begin.
There stood a lone mirror, covered with moss.
In its reflection, the rainbow had only seven colors.
But outside the mirror…
Eight.
The diary contained one final sentence.
«"Break the mirror, and the spirit walks free. Leave it untouched, and someone must guard it forever."»
Arun heard footsteps behind him.
Hundreds of them.
The missing villagers stood silently, their eyes completely black.
They all whispered together:
“Look at the rainbow.”
He closed his eyes.
He never looked again.
The villagers say Arun still sits on that hill today.
Eyes permanently shut.
Guarding the mirror.
Waiting for someone curious enough to count the colors.
So the next time you see a rainbow after sunset…
Don't count them.
Because if you ever find an eighth color staring back at you…
It may already be too late.