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Right
at the very very end of the Rainbow, where all the colors on earth
are made, is a magical kingdom called Rainbow Land. It is filled
with small, round houses, millions of brilliant colored flowers and
has a tall tower called the Color Castle…and that is where Rainbow
Brite lives.
Rainbow Brite is a lovable little girl who uses the colors of the
rainbow to spread joy and brightness all over the world. She does
this happy magic by scattering Star Sprinkles, and she is helped by
seven Color Kids.
Each
Color Kid has a special helper too – a friendly, furry Sprite. These
Sprites work in the Color Mines digging and supplying the Color Kids
with the correct colors that are needed, and they really love their
job. Rainbow Brite has her own special Sprite called Twink and a
magical flying horse, named Starlite.
But
not far from Rainbow Land is a gray, gloomy place called The Pits.
There is nothing very nice about this place. Murky Dismal lives
there, and he hates brightness and color and spends all his time
trying to make the world as gray and dull and miserable as he can.
His
assistant is called Lurky, who is not very bright himself, and makes
lots of silly mistakes, and drives Murky Dismal round in their
rattling old Grunge Buggy.
One
evening, Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids were busy getting a
special supper ready as a surprise for the Sprites. Everyone was
happy. Canary Yellow was putting out the butter and singing quietly
to herself. Red Butler was telling Lala Orange a long story, as he
set out the strawberry jam, when suddenly Rainbow called out, "Quiet
please everyone, I can hear a noise."
They
were all very still and then Buddy Blue said, "I can hear it, too"
and added, "It’s that awful Grunge Buggy, I know that rattle sound
anywhere."
Shy
Violet whispered, "I wonder what Murky Dismal is doing round here at
this time of day?" He’s usually making up some nasty mixture at The
Pits."
The
sound of the Grunge Buggy came nearer, then the back door flew open
and a breathless Sprite came in. It was Twink.
"Rainbow, Color Kids, Lurky is driving Murky Dismal this way. Please
can you stop him. Please!"
"Yes
I will." Rainbow replied. "Don’t you worry Twink. You run back and
tell the other Sprites everything will be alright."
"Thank you Rainbow," Twink called as he ran back to the mines.
Rainbow knew how frightened Sprites were of Murky Dismal….
The
sound of the Grunge Buggy came nearer and then stopped. Murky
Dismal’s voice rang out. "Ha, ha, ha, Rainbow Brite and you Color
Kids. You’ve got a surprise coming to you. Ha, ha, ha!"
"What
surprise?" Rainbow asked.
"You
just find out for yourself. Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
"Yes,
you find out for yourself," repeated Lurky, starting up the Grunge
Buggy. "You’ll find out at the fruit garden."
Murky
Dismal was cross. "You oaf, Lurky. You’ve told them now."
"No,
no, no I didn’t. All I said was…" but before he could finish,
Rainbow had grabbed a handful of Star Sprinkles and thrown them at
Murky and Lurky.
"Quick, quick, drive away back to The Pits" Murky yelled, "before
those Starsprinklers get us and make us happy."
The
Color Kids and the Sprites all cheered when they heard this, but
Rainbow was thoughtful. "I wonder what Lurky meant when he mentioned
the fruit garden?"
There
was silence, then Rainbow called, "Starlite," and straightaway her
magic horse appeared. "Starlite, I want you to take me to the fruit
garden as quickly as you can." Within seconds, they were there.
"Oh
no!" Rainbow gasped. "Look what they’ve done." Starlite stamped his
foot. All the fruit in the garden had lost its color. It was all
gray and gloomy and miserable and dull.
Rainbow was worried. "Everyone will be so unhappy when they see this
tomorrow morning. Just what Murky wants. We must act quickly."
Back
in the Castle, Rainbow gathered all the Color Kids and their Sprites
round her and told them what Murky had done, then added, "We must do
something."
"Put
the color back in the fruit," Twink suggested.
Rainbow agreed. "Yes, but how? Have we got enough of the correct
colors ready for the morning?"
Twink
spoke up. "We’ll make enough, won’t we Color Kids and Sprites? Even
if we have to work all night."
"Yes," they all chorused.
Then
Rainbow organized them into their groups, each Color Kid with their
own special Sprite helper.
"Patty O’Green, if you and Sprite Lucky will see to the cooking
apples and the gooseberries. Lala Orange and Saucy attend to the
oranges and tangerines. Shy Violet, can you manage the grapes with
IQ?"
Shy
Violet nodded and Canary Yellow called, "Spark and I will do the
bananas and lemons."
"Good," smiled Rainbow, "And Red Butler and Romeo…"
"The
eating apples and the cherries," smiled Red Butler
Then
they all dashed off quickly, followed by Buddy Blue and Champ, who
went to the blueberry bushes and Indigo and Encore, who arranged the
damsons and some plums.
In
the mines, everyone worked non-stop right through the night digging,
sorting and preparing the right colors. Then after eight hours,
Twink reported to Rainbow. "Finished. Everything is ready."
Looking very pleased, rainbow jumped on Starlite’s back and within a
few seconds they were at the fruit garden.
She
star sprinkled the different colors over all the fruit, and
everything brightened up, and all the colors appeared, and
everything looked fresh and colorful and appetizing again.
In
the morning, Lurky drove Murky Dismal to the fruit garden in the
Grunge Buggy. "He! He! He!" Murky chuckled as they neared it. "Won’t
everybody be miserable when they see all the gray dull fruit and …"
He stopped laughing. They had reached the fruit garden.
"What
happened?" he gasped. "My plan has been ruined. Ruined by Rainbow
Brite and the Sprites and those Color Kids. It’s sickening."
Lurky
looked at the shining, mouthwatering fruit. "Those bananas look
nice, and those apples and those plums and those…"
"Get
going, immediately" ordered Murky. "Back to The Pits and some real
miserableness. Come on." And the Buggy roared off back home to their
dull, gloomy place.
But
at the Color Castle in Rainbow Land, the Sprites with Rainbow Brite
and the Color Kids were having a wonderful breakfast from the supper
they had prepared the night before, but had been too busy to eat! |
