One fine morning, I was strolling in my backyard. It had rained heavily, and the Sun was making its appearance slowly but stealthily from behind the clouds. I have always enjoyed looking at the sky after a heavy downpour, as natural phenomena excite me. Bit by bit, I saw the sky turn lighter blue in color, and a beautiful rainbow formed. I love rainbows; they are one of the most beautiful creations of nature. Walking slowly towards the rainbow, a sudden urge to fly came upon me. I chanted "Accio" and summoned my broomstick, ready for a quick ride through the lovely morning air while bathing in the freshness of nature and inhaling the scent of the sodden earth. I mounted my broomstick and took off. The wind hit my face, and my hair flapped against my features. The experience was so thrilling that I closed my eyes. Enjoying it thoroughly, I began to daydream happy childhood memories of days spent in the mountains and my life in the past, living close to the clouds with my eyes still tight shut. Being a curious daydreamer, these mental escapades were quite natural to me. Prior to narrating the rest of this story, let me add here that it really wasn't a good idea to allow myself to lose focus and close my eyes when on a broomstick. It could be fatal, like that time I was daydreaming on my broomstick on the Quidditch pitch until the opponent team's bludger hit me hard and knocked me unconscious for a full hour. When I finally snapped out of my musings and contemplated the scenario in front of me, I was in for a great shock. The air around me was no longer transparent. I rubbed my eyes in utter amusement, but no matter how many times I rubbed, closed, and re-opened them, I could see the same. The air surrounding me was somehow multi-colored. There were zones of violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Was I in the rainbow? That was a ludicrous yet weirdly satisfying thought. I pinched myself to check if I was dreaming, but it hurt. "Ouch!" I yelled in pain. "I must have flown into the rainbow", I thought to myself, however ridiculous that sounded, even as I beheld my dress, hair, and skin looking as though painted by an artist. I wondered if I should try to get out of it or remain in the rainbow and explore the seemingly vast realm of seven colors. No matter which direction I looked, I could only see colors everywhere. Nowhere did I spot an exit I could go through, so I decided to fly on, leaving the destination I would finally reach in the flaky hands of fate. As I gazed overhead, I noticed that the slightly darker overarching canopy of seven colors above me was getting higher and higher with each mile I flew forward. I perceived a lightness as if I had lost the pull of gravity. It cost me little to no effort to stay on my broomstick, and the broom itself felt like it had disappeared from underneath me. It took me a while to adjust to my gradually developing weightlessness, and I was scared. That was because it was difficult to regulate my movements without my usual flying reflexes, and I felt out of control, but soon I found myself floating in the air and being carried across the rainbow by invisible forces. The colors progressively turned blindingly bright and hurt my eyes, so I shut them tight. Suddenly, my movement stopped. I reopened my eyes to check where I was. I found myself trapped in a small bridge of color emanating from a giant pot full of gold coins, which looked suspiciously like Galleons, in startling contrast to the surrounding pitch-black darkness, which I could have sworn was blacker than the blackest of skies. The pot itself was made of shining gold and encrusted with sparkling gems like rubies, diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds, dazzling my senses. At the end of this strange adventure, had I found myself some treasure? I did not mind gaining some wealth. I reached out and grabbed a few coins with both hands. However, they vanished as soon as I touched them. I looked clearly at the pot and noticed that the coins kept disappearing and reappearing in equal numbers while the pot remained full to its brim. "Leprechaun gold", I thought. These changes in the contents of the pot caused imperceptible fluctuations in the rainbow in which I was stuck, and I now knew why the rainbow sparkled. "Wow", I thought. That was one discovery that gave me immense pleasure, and I didn't mind going back now. My curiosity was sated, and my imagination had been satisfied to its fill. But how? How do I return to Earth from wherever this place was? Suddenly, the rainbow shook, and my broomstick began to falter as if being tossed among strong currents in the sea. Worried, I clutched its handle tight. A band of leprechauns dressed in green suits and yellow necklaces, with multicolored beads stuck everywhere on their outfits, marched funnily through the pitch-blackness towards the pot of gold in a manner that seemed as though they were wading through the blackest of waters. Their motion was outright weird and largely funny, but I couldn't care less. I wanted to go anywhere but into that black region that looked like a vast nothingness, but I didn't know how. I waved to them and asked, "Hello, do you know how I can get home?"

"A witch", said one of them, and the entire group burst into loud peals of laughter, which made me feel just a bit humiliated. "Hey there, this is not a joke. I am lost," I warned, my features twisting slightly. The laughter didn't stop until one of them raised their hands and yelled, "STOP". The whole band of those funny creatures stopped laughing at once, and the one who had raised his hand said, "Fly backwards, dear, and you will reach right back home. Never come back here unless you would like to enjoy some of our tricks. And, oh, stop daydreaming."

Confused, I asked if flying backwards would be enough to take me back all the way I had come and whether I would reach outside the rainbow back into Earth, but none of them bothered to reply. One of them simply waved his hand dismissively and said, "Be quick; we are folding up the rainbow."

"What?" I screamed, terrified. I found the rainbow shaking a bit and then realized that it was because the leprechauns were moving the pot of gold ever so slowly away from the spot where I was, further and further into the pitch-black darkness. "Where are you taking it?" I asked. "Back to where it belongs", one of the leprechauns snorted, "into the glowing ball of fire to melt until it's too hot again and needs the clouds to spray some water." I realized that he meant the Sun. I stared, still surprised.

The leprechauns kept singing merrily and moving the pot away, half dancing and half trotting gaily. Once in a while, a few of them looked back at me and giggled. I noticed the multicolored bridge around me thinning slowly and the darkness coming closer and closer and closer. I put a finger out to test the blackness, and a force pulled my finger so strongly that I felt like I could get sucked right into it. No, I was scared. I couldn't go into that black hole. I took the leprechaun's advice and tried to fly backwards. It was difficult to focus on my magic because there was no gravity, and I was completely weightless. The usual forces that a broomstick flight would be based on weren't at play, but with some determination, concentration, and willpower, I managed to fly backwards. The colors faded slowly and blended into each other, turning white as I kept up my swift, backward motion. Soon, the colors were gone, and my surroundings were transparent. A whiff of a scent I recognized, that of spring flowers, tickled my nose, and a slight breeze touched my face. I realized that I was back on Earth. Soon, I was in what one could call the Earth's atmosphere, but flying backwards. I wondered if I could safely stop the backward motion and try to land now that I was no longer in unfamiliar territory, but I didn't dare. The leprechaun had said that I would reach right back home if I kept flying backwards. I followed his advice to the tee and continued the fast-paced reverse flight till I reached my backyard, then descended rapidly to a reasonable height. It was such a relief to finally have my broomstick feel normal. I tested if I could still fly like earlier and was overjoyed that I could. I pressed lightly down on the handle and landed safely. The leprechaun was right. I was back home. And as for his other advice, not to daydream? Well, that's something I haven't managed to follow yet.