A little girl is kneeling on the sidewalk. Her small, chalk dusted hand paints vivid colors into the dull gray concrete cracked and smoothed from thousands footsteps. Completely oblivious to the rest of the world, she smiles to herself as she creates blooming flowers and smiling faces with a worn-down piece of orange chalk. A boy has been observing the little girl from the shadows with curious, crystal-clear eyes that closely follows every confident stroke of her hand.

The boy can’t stand it anymore, and he steps into the waning sun. “Little girl,” the boy calls out. “Why do you continue to draw these meaningless things on the sidewalk? The rain and footsteps of people will wash and wear your drawings down, and they will be washed away with the rest of the world.”

The girl doesn’t respond and finishes the last strokes of her blooming rose. Her bright green eyes are focused, and her brow is creased from concentration. “My drawings aren’t meaningless,” The little girl eventually replies. “I draw because I want to make people happy and add a little color to the world.”

The boy only scoffs. “How can you make people happy with orange roses and smiles? I would much rather have riches and fame that will not be destroyed by the elements.”

The little girl only shrugs. “Haven’t you ever smiled before? We live in a dull, gray place where smiles and flowers are rare. When people walk down this road thinking unhappy thoughts with frowns on their faces, they will see blooming flowers and happy smiles waiting for them.”

“Happiness doesn't bring food to starving children or money to beggars,” the boy replies. “You cannot hope to change the world by something as small and insignificant as that.”

The little girl stands up and brushes the orange chalk dust from her small hands and knees. She places her hands on her hips and regards the boy with a defiant green gaze. “Maybe someone will see my drawings one day, and they will think, ‘oh, flowers and smiles are such a rare sight here!’ That will bring a smile to their face, which plants a small seed of happiness inside of their heart. If one smile can make a person happy, then that person will spread their happiness around to other people and chase their dark clouds away, and then these people will spread their joy to the whole world.”

‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard,’ the boy thinks with a shake of his head. “Dream all you want little girl,” he says. “Nothing will come out of your foolish efforts.” Without another glance, he turns his back and walks away from the green-eyed girl and the color on the sidewalk.

~

Many years later, a young man with crystal-clear eyes walks a gray sidewalk alone. He is lost in his inner thoughts that shift and move dully with the landscape of monochrome colors. Like a bolt of lightning, a splash of color suddenly catches his eye, and the young man kneels down to inspect the strange phenomenon. On the sidewalk he is walking is a rose is drawn in orange chalk, and holding the rose is boy is wearing biggest smile he had ever seen. ‘Now, where have I seen this before?’ The young man wonders to himself and straightens up, only to be met with the most wondrous sight.

On the sidewalk, in the streets, on top of the dull, colorless canvas that was their lives are brilliant streaks of color - orange, blue, purple, yellow, green, so many colors the young man has never seen, and so many colors that now fills the empty spaces in his life. They resemble something – a yellow songbird, a streak of blue water flowing over green grass, a purple balloon soaring into the open sky. He notices the people, the many, many groups of people that hold pieces of chalk in their hands and give color to his world. They are laughing, smiling, talking, and they are happy. For the first time, the young man feels his heart swell like it was going to burst, and a beautiful, joyful smile slowly spreads on his face.

“The world is starting to become a happier place,” a voice says. A young woman with bright green eyes and a kind smile walks up to him.

“Little girl,” the young man says. “I was wrong to doubt and scorn you. You had a beautiful dream, and I crushed it with my reality.” The young woman notices that his clear eyes now reflect radiant colors instead of the colorless landscape of the past.

“Join us,” the young woman says, and she presses something into his hand. “It’s your turn to fill this world with the colors of your happiness and dreams.”

The young man looks down and closes his fingers around a new piece of orange chalk.