When told that they would have to paint the scenery themselves, they looked somewhat surprised. It is doubtful whether either of them had ever painted anything more than his mother’s kitchen floor or perhaps whitewashed a fence or the interior of a barn. They finally decided to do the job. A painter was called over the phone who said he wouldn’t charge the boys a cent for the colors if they painted the scene. Up in an attic of a building near by there was an old faded pink curtain that had been cast aside. It was thought to be no longer useful. Within twenty-four hours the curtain was brought over and hoisted, and the floor of the stage adjacent to the office was covered with paint pails, brushes, and water colors. With dogged determination they decided to finish the painting during the holiday vacation. A few minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve the last stroke of the brush was made. The quaint cottage, the snow white-capped mountain, the tumbling waterfall and the steep ascending cliffs were painted in a manner which brought many favorable comments from competent art critics. The blending of the colors was magnificent. It was genuine art. The beauty of it all was that these two young men found that they could express themselves even on canvas.
Just as they had painted their scenery on the stage of the theater, so did they write their play, acting out each line before they put it in final form for presentation. Often they worked all night until four o’clock in the morning. They called their play “The Raindrops.” The theme is told in the second act of the play. The scene represents the interior of an Icelandic home. It is evening. The family circle has gathered. Some are sewing and others knitting. The children want to hear a story. Sveinn, one of the characters in the play, finally says to them, “All right then, if you are quiet, I will tell you the story of the raindrops who met in the sky.” And he narrates the following which the children listen to with rapt attention.
“Once there were two raindrops away-way high up in the clouds. The sun had just lately smiled at them as they were playing in the big ocean, and his smile had drawn them up into the sky. Now as they danced and sported about in its radiance he decked them in all the bright and beautiful colors of the rainbow; and they were so happy over being rid of the dirt and salt that they almost forgot themselves for joy.
But somehow there seemed to be something that reminded them of the past. They felt as if they had met before. Finally one said, “Say, friend, haven’t we met before?” “That is just what I’ve been thinking,” said friend. “Where have you been, comrade?”
“I’ve been on the broad prairies on the west side of the big mountain that you see down there,” answered comrade.
“Oh,” said friend, “and I’ve been on the green slope on the east side of the mountain. I had a friend who fell at the same time as I did, and we were going to keep together, but unfortunately he fell on the other side of the ridge.”
“That was too bad,” said comrade, “the same thing happened to me but my friend fell on the east side just close to that stone you see down there.”
“Why, that is just where I fell,” said friend. This was enough—they could scarcely contain themselves with joy over meeting and recognizing one another again.
After they had danced one another around for a while, shaken hands a dozen times or more, and slapped one another on the back till they were all out of breath, friend said, “Now, comrade, tell me all about everything that has happened to you.”
“And you’ll have to tell me everything that you have seen,” said comrade.