Mister Sunshine stands at an art easel, palette and brush in his hands. He smiles a warm greeting.
“I love arts and craft time, Sunbeams. You can create anything you wish! Even when you’re feeling blue… The sun can shine in your paintings.”
He smushes the brush into the painting as he talks.
“We’re not defined by what happens to us in life, like a sum of good and bad experiences. Our identities are found in how we respond to those things. How we react… and the friends we make along the way.”
He steps away from the canvas, showing yellow sunbeams poking from behind through a series of dark clouds.
“We choose what defines us, because we can smile in any storm.”
Sunshine lowers his brush, revealing his hand – burnt from the flames he was tossed into by Tombstone. His smile turns to a momentary wince before his face resets itself.
“Look at this little tree.”
He points a shaking finger to his painting.
“He stands all alone against the storm clouds that threaten his sunny little hillside. Those mean clouds, black as death, look ready to rain.”
He sighs.
“And they will. The storm is coming. We’ve seen the clouds forming in our skies for a while now, Sunbeams.”
“All alone, the little tree is worried that the storm might be too much. That his roots won’t be deep enough to hold them off… and he will topple.”
He places the brush down on the canvas, holding up his burned hand.
“I’ve seen the storm clouds forming too. They hunted me down, put me face to face with Tombstone. Dark clouds, threatening my happy little hillside.”
“Calypso, Gravedigger, Tombstone, Narcissa… lapdogs of Zeus. He controls the weather, our Baron. So when we see these dark clouds forming, we know where they’re coming from.”
“And they’re not happy with our little Mariachi friend.”
Sunshine indicates back towards the lone tree.
“He stands alone, just like this lonely little tree here.”
He picks up his brush, dabbing at the canvas.
“All alone, he will fall. But let’s make our little tree happy. Everybody needs a friend or two.”
“You see… nature comes together against all intruders in its own way. Man fighting the forces of nature doesn’t stand a chance.”
Soon, on the canvas there are three trees standing together, where there once was one.
“Three happy little trees stand stronger than one. These happy tree friends intertwine their roots, holding more firmly in the ground. So when the storm clouds rain down on them… they can weather the storm.”
He turns from the canvas, smile on his face.
“The possibility of rain shouldn’t darken your skies, Gemini. See past the dark cloud and see that the sky is really blue.”
He takes a cloth, wiping away at the dark clouds, revealing bright blue underneath.
“We could let El Mariachi Muerte stand alone, or we can stand with him, put on a smile and chase away those dang dark clouds.”
He claps, grinning.
“Let’s spread some Sunshine, Gem… Because the sky is ALWAYS blue in Mister Sunshine’s world.”