Mister Sunshine stands in front of a group of his Sunshine Club. He beams a smile at them, but it comes with a warning finger.
“Our lives are not always puppydogs and rose petals, Sunbeams. Sometimes, we face hard times. Bad things happen and we just cannot stop that.”
“But the sun still shines on cloudy days, Sunbeams… you just have to learn to let it.”
He sits on a bright yellow armchair and opens a book. There’s a picture of a boy, holding a bright, red balloon.
“Freddy was happy when his mom gave him this balloon. His mummy wanted to cheer him up because he was lonely.”
The children react in unison.
“Aww, that’s good.”
Sunshine smiles, turning the page. The boy is sad. His balloon floating away.
“But his balloon blew away. He chased it for a long time.”
The children gasp.
“That’s bad!”
Sunshine smiles.
“No, that’s good!”
Sunshine turns the page again. Two other children are waving at the boy.
“You see, chasing his balloon led Freddy to meet some new friends playing at the park. By losing his balloon, he found what he wanted all along.”
He closes the book.
“Our friend Mighty Mighty is just like Freddy – he just wants a friend. And he wants that friend to be Ayame.”
“That’s good right?”
“But not if she doesn’t want to be his friend back. That’s bad. She doesn’t want his party. Especially not with someone like Lutherian Locke lurking in the groves, waiting to strike.”
He stands, rustling the hair of one of the children.
“But that’s good. Mighty Mighty just needs an opportunity to show his new friend that he can be as big a friend as he is… big.”
“Even the worst situation can be a blessing if you just change your perspective a little.”
Sunshine smiles as he moves around the children.
“Take poor Jackson Cade.”
“His whole family is facing a horrible situation. His mother is missing, and the one who took him keeps chopping pieces of her up and delivering them to him in boxes!”
The children gasp in terror, falling deathly quiet. Sunshine smiles on.
“I know! Terrible, right?! But it’s not all bad. Now he has a part of his mom he can carry everywhere he goes.”
The children are crying now, but Sunshine keeps smiling.
“No, it’s good. Because as long as she is captive by Redgrave, she’s still alive. He can fight his law case, and stick it to Zeus and Hera for good.”
“It’s good, because He has a chance. And children, that’s all we ever need to let the sun shine.”
“He has a chance to be the Sunshine. Be the boy that his mummy will be proud of. Well, what’s left of her.”
Sunshine’s smile is wider than ever as he pulls the Sunshine Club in for a group hug.
“Whether or not you let the sun shine through the clouds in your life, it’s just a matter of perspective. When we turn our bad times into good times, we spread a little more Sunshine.”
“And that’s worth smiling about.”