Chapter Six: Over the Edge

Rainbow woke the next morning to the sound of bacon crackling and the smell of pancakes. She looked around the tent that she had shared with Dana and Candace. Rainy could hear Dana talking outside, and Candy was still asleep. Dressing quickly, and wrapped up in a blanket, Rainbow stepped out into the crisp, cool morning light. The sun was just peeking up over the mountaintops. Rainbows grandma was talking with Dana as they cooked breakfast.
“Good morning!” Dana sang out.
“Good morning, Dana,” Rainbow answered. “Good morning, Grandma.”
Trey came out of his tent, sleepy-eyed, followed by a very bouncy and hyper Jeremiah.
“Come on, Trey, let’s eat!” Jeremiah yelled, although Trey was right beside him. Trey sighed and walked over to the girls.
“Wow. Does he always wake up this early?”
“Well, good morning to you, too,” Rainbow answered sarcastically. Dana smirked.
“Oh, “Trey replied, looking a little sheepish. “ Sorry. ‘Mornin everyone.”
As they were eating breakfast, Candace walked up to the table.
“Well,” Rainbow began. “Now that Sleeping Beauty is up…” Everyone smiled at Candace. She grinned back. Rainbow went on. “We can begin discussing our plans for today.”
Her grandma interrupted. “Hold, on girl, before you start making plans,” she paused and smiled. “Some of us are going to climb Yosemite Falls today.”
Rainbow gasped. “Really? May we go?” She had always wanted to hike up the enormous triple waterfall.
“If all your friends want to,” her grandma replied.
Eagerly, Rainbow turned to look at her friends. “Do you guys want to?”
“Sure,” Dana said.
“I’m game,” Trey agreed.
Candace looked at them. “If everyone else is,” she answered.
Rainbow’s grandma laughed. “Well, your dad, Uncle Mike and Grandpa are leaving in half an hour.”
“Oh, then we’d better get ready,” Rainbow said, cleaning up her breakfast dishes.
Later, the girls were in the bathroom getting ready. “My goodness, my hair is mess,” Dana complained, brushing her mahogany hair down.
“Oh, it looks lovely, Danish,” Rainbow contradicted her, while pulling her own red hair up into a ponytail. She looked over at Candace, who was brushing her teeth. “Candy, may I braid your hair?” Candy looked over. “Please?”
Candace smiled at Rainbow, who loved to play with her glossy, chocolate brown hair. “Okay,” she laughed.
“Thanks!” Rainbow squeaked, and skipped over to Candace.
Dana looked thoughtful. “Whatcha thinking of, Danish?” Candy asked. “Ow! Rainbow, don’t pull so hard!”
“Sorry.”
Dana looked at the other two. “You know how we’ve all been having a weird feeling about this trip? Not a bad feeling, just…weird?”
“Uh, huh,” the two girls replied.
“Well, I think whatever’s going to happen, is going to happen today.”
“Oh, wow,” Rainbow gasped. “I’ve been thinking the same thing!”
“Me, too,” Candace whispered.
“But…I don’t know,” Dana sighed, turning back to the mirror. “Maybe it’s just a feeling.”
As the girls walked out of the bathroom, they passed by Trey, who was walking back to the campsite. “Hey,” he said. “This’ll sound kind of crazy, but…”
Rainbow interrupted. “You have a weird feeling that something strange is going to happen today. Right?”
Trey blinked. “Um…yeah…how did you know?”
“Because we are, too,” Candy explained.
“You know what we should do?” Dana suggested. Everyone turned to her. “We should pray.”
“Good idea, Danish!” Rainbow agreed, and gathered the four of them into a circle.
“Dear God,” Trey began. “We’ve all been having the strangest feeling about today. Help us to have faith that You will keep us safe, no matter what kind of adventure we have.”
Rainbow continued the prayer. “And thank You that we get to come on this trip, and please prepare us for whatever comes our way.”
“Help us to remember that no matter what happens, You are always in control of everything.” Candace prayed.
Dana finished the prayer. “Help us not to fear anything, but to trust in You always. We love You, Lord. In Your name…”
“Amen,” they all said in unison.
“Oh, I forgot,” Rainbow gasped. “I told my dad we’d be back right away to do our morning devotion!” She ran ahead to the campsite with her friends following her.

“There you guys are,” Mr. Covington said as they ran up to the campfire. “We were wondering if you had left to the waterfall without us!”
Everyone laughed, and Rainbow’s dad pulled out his Bible. “Today, we’ll be reading from Ephesians, chapter 6.” The teenagers ran to their tents to get their Bibles. When they came back, they opened to the New Testament book.
“What verse, Daddy?” Rainbow’s sister, Esther asked.
“Verse ten,” he replied. “Is everyone there? Good, let’s read. I’ll start, and then Rainbow, you read the next two verses, then Trey, and so on around the circle.” He began. “’Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the full armor off God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.’ Rainbow?”
She cleared her throat. “Ahem. ’ For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness, in the heavenly places.’”
Trey continued. “’Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.’” He looked at Dana.
She glanced up. “Verse fifteen?”
“Yep,” Rainbow answered.
“Okay. ‘ And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.’”
“’And take the helmet of salvation,’” Candace spoke up.”’ And the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.’”
Rainbow’s dad discussed what they had just read. “Every day we need to ask God to clothe us in His armor, because, every day, there is a spiritual battle that must be fought. As Christians, we can’t choose not to fight. Satan loves to attack us, in the hope that we will give up and let evil overcome us. Now, we put what on our waists?”
Esther answered. “Truth. The belt of truth.”
“That’s right. Satan is the Father of Lies. He hates it when we speak the truth. We also put on righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, and salvation. But these are all used for defense. What is our weapon?”
“The sword of the spirit.” Rainbow said. “That’s the word of God, the Bible.”
“Yes, Rainbow,” her dad answered her. “We all have a sword to fight with. God’s sword is sharper than the sharpest sword.”
Candace nudged Rainbow. “Imagine having a sword like that,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Rainbow sighed. She had always wanted to have a sword and learn how to actually fight with one.
Trey overheard them, and spoke up. “But we do have a sword like that. Right now we do.”
“He’s right,” Mr. Covington answered. “Don’t think that this is all make-believe. You have very real weapons and are fighting in a very real battle.”
They all pondered this.
“Another thing that helps us in battle is spiritual gifts,” he went on. The teens’ ears perked up. They had often heard about spiritual gifts, but just now, they realized they hadn’t tried to figure out what theirs were. “We all have a special gift, a gift God has given us. Some may already know what that gift is, some have yet to find out.”
Rainbow’s mom interjected. “Honey, it’s getting late, you should probably all get going,” she said, while chasing Rainbow’s two-year old sister, Tiana, to clean her dirty face.
“You’re right,” Mr. Covington answered. After praying, they all loaded up into the car and drove off. All four friends were thinking of the same thing.
“What’s my gift?”


When they arrived at the falls, the girls and Trey were amazed.
Staring up at the three waterfalls, Upper, Lower, and Middle Yosemite Falls, Rainbow breathed, “I feel so…small.”
“Yeah,” they all agreed. Entranced by the sparkling falls, they didn’t notice Rainbow’s family had walked away, until they were called.
“Hey, guys,” Rainbow’s uncle Mike called. “We’d better get started.”
About half an hour from the top, the adults stopped for another break. After five minutes, Rainbow stood up.
“Daddy,” she asked. “May we go on ahead?” He looked at her, about to refuse, but her deep blue eyes were so pleading…
“Alright, go on ahead,” he laughed. “We’ll meet you at the top.
The four friends went on ahead. Candace lagged a little behind, listening to the others talk, and thinking to her herself. She suddenly felt a presence beside her, turned, and there was the girl. The strange girl who had appeared to Candace at home!
“You!” Candace gasped, and looked around to see if anyone else saw the girl. No one was there except her friends, who were up ahead. “You’re back!”
“Yes,” the girl answered. “To give you guidance.”
Candace looked at her questioningly. “You keep saying that. Guidance for what?”
“In time, you will find out.” The girl looked up ahead along the path. “You have reached top.”
Candace followed her gaze and gasped. Trey, Rainbow, and Dana were looking at the view. And what a view! All of Yosemite Valley was visible, she could see other waterfalls in the distant haze, and Half Dome, the huge mountain rock loomed over the Valley.
“You must do what I tell you,” the girl told Candace.
“What must I do?”
The girl looked around, then leaned forward and whispered into Candace’s ear. Candace stepped back and gasped. “What?! I can’t do that! It would kill her!”
“Trust me.”
“But…how can I trust you? I don’t even know you!”
“Trust me…” the girl began to flicker.
“Don’t leave,” Candace begged, and grasped the girl’s hand. Instantly, she let it go, for it felt as if she had thrust her whole hand into an electrical outlet.
“Trust me,” the girl breathed. “Do what you must, then follow her.”
With a flash of golden light, she was gone again. Candace didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t do what the girl asked. She couldn’t! Yet, Candace had a feeling that she should. Making up her mind, but with a sinking heart, she walked up behind Rainbow. Rainbow turned to look at Candace, just as she did the unthinkable. Candace pushed Rainbow over the edge.
The roar of the waterfall drowned out rainbow’s scream, as she grabbed wildly for anything. Trey gave a shout and reached for her, barely grasped her wrist, but lost his grip. Dana wasn’t close enough to do anything, but yell, “Candy, what are you thinking?!”
Tears filled all their eyes as they helplessly watched Rainbow fall down the sparkling waterfall. Through the mist, she seemed to glow. Then, with a flash of golden light, Rainbow was gone.